Xenomorph X Human
by Teykon
Summary: A man thinks that after saving a lost Xenomorph and nursing her back to health has made him a very unique, albeit dangerous, friend. But what he doesn't expect is that she wants to be much more.
1. I'll be yours, if you'll be mine

_She looked at him with great interest and passion as he came back into the room. He was wearing nothing but a cloth wrapped around his waist, having just come from the cleaning himself she assumed. But it was strange, the way he made her feel. Perhaps it was because he had saved her from death. Or it might have been how kind and patient and understand he was. Overall she knew it was all of this. He was more to her than any other human had been to her. And the only human who had not abused her as the ones in the white coats did. Recently she had started feeling strange when she was with him. Like now, as she saw him she could feel herself getting wet between her legs. _

The young man paid little attention to the alien lying in his bed as the door behind him slid closed. He walked a few steps over to his dresser and rummaged around for a pair of boxers to wear. He was not shy to be naked in front of the thing in his bed. She had mostly just been laying there for the past few days and he had even been sleeping in the same bed, though he stayed to one side and her to the other. He was not even sure if she did sleep or just laid there. But he was very used to her being around and though he was not entirely sure how intelligent she was; he did not think she minded him being naked in front of her, as she appeared not to really care. It's not like she could judge him for being naked in front of her, as she was without clothes twenty-four seven anyway.

Though she was a little scary to look at now, he knew if he saw he saw her creeping in the dark he would probably soil his pants and get ready to die. She being about six feet tall, strong he would guess and was black as night, she appeared to have an exoskeleton like an insect and her head was long and curved back. She also had a long tail that ended with a pointed spear head that he knew without even having seen it in action, would puncture through flesh like butter; as it was obviously designed by nature to do just that. But if she had wanted to kill him she would have done so and if she wanted to leave, it would not be hard for her to do so. But really she should be quite grateful he thought, he could get in a lot of trouble with the government for harboring a strange otherworldly alien.

When he referred to it in his mind he always did it as a her, though he really had no idea if she was male or female, or if she was neither, he had tried to find out but couldn't see anything that could classify its sex, it is an alien after all so who knows.

He took off the towel he had wrapped around his waist and laid it on the bed. He reached for his boxers and took a glance at the alien; she was sitting on his bed in a cross legged pose and was looking towards him. He could not see her eyes but he knew she was in fact eyeing him. He could see her tail lying in front of her coming from her lower back and it was twitching. He felt his heart beat quicken a little bit at this. Had he spoken to soon? Was she really going to kill him? Almost as if she could sense his discomfort she pulled her tail back behind her and let it lay down the side of the bed. As she did this he noticed something between her legs that he had not noticed before, a slit, it was hard to see because she was so dark but he could see it. He had never seen between her legs till now, since she was sitting cross legged.

He didn't feel this really settled the gender question, as in his mind flash a quick scene of a penis sliding from the slit. He almost grimaced at the thought and quickly threw the mental image away. Though really, felt himself rather liking the way she was sitting, exposing herself to him like that he thought. It was beginning to arouse him and he felt the blood begin to head towards his dick. He did not know why but he suddenly felt embarrassed at what was happening and grabbed the towel instead of his boxers and covered himself with it. That's when she reacted and began to move towards him.

_She had known immediately that he did not like the way her tail was twitching even though among her kind that was a sign that she wanted to mate. She understood though why he would not understand and take it perhaps as a threat. So she pulled it behind herself and continued to watch him and saw where his eyes traveled. He could now see her mating parts, and from the look in his eyes she could tell he liked his view, the same way she liked hers. That's when she saw it, his member had begun to swell with blood and stiffen but she only saw it for a moment before he covered himself up again. _

_She knew now was the time to act and leaned forward and crawled on her hands and knees towards him letting her tail loosely follow behind her. He looked like he was about to take a step back but did not move when she reached out with her hand and gently pulled the towel from his grip and dropped it on the floor, exposing his now very stiff member it was wonderfully long and thick too. She looked at it then slowly and gently rubbed her nose against the tip of it, it twitched at this, slightly jumping upward. She then dipped her face under it and began to rub his shaft against the top of her face, it was wonderfully hot against her face; she looked up at him as she gently ran his member over her face, feeling his warmth._

Feeling almost like he was dreaming while he looked down at the alien he had been taking care of and watched as she was now taking care of him. Rubbing her face against his member in such an erotic way as if she loved it.

She now grabbed his cock and was now slowly stroking it and looking up at him. The feeling of her cool hands on his dick was amazing, her hands where smooth like a dolphins skin but had a strange grip to it He looked at her and she started making a quiet high humming sound in her throat, like a purr and from that he could tell right away that she must be horny, almost like a cat, and feeling very frisky. Though it was so sudden and he was not sure exactly how he should react, so he just looked down at her then brought his hand up to her face and touched the side of it. She immediately moved her head into his palm and pressed against it. The purring sound got louder.

_She started stroking faster, pumping up and down, she was so happy right now! He had accepted her invitation to mate; she could feel her fluids sliding down her thighs. They would now mate properly as mates do. "And when we are finished we will be true Mates." She thought. She would do her very best to please him she told herself, lest another female try to take him afterwards. Though she knew she would enjoy herself to, he was huge and though his member may have never been meant to pleasure a member of her kind, it would tonight._

She had started stroking faster and he was having a hard time keeping himself together. He was still looking down at her, seeing more than ever now her perfect beauty. He was still looking at her when she let go of his cock and he felt the buildup start to go down a bit, he let out a breath as she started to turn away from him and got on her hands and knees again. He almost started to wonder what she was doing till he realized she was offering herself to him. She had her tail lifted and moved away and he saw the full package that was her beautiful black back side.

He could now clearly see her dark separation just below her small equally dark anus showing partly from her cheeks. He saw to that she was soaking wet between her legs and saw the light reflect of the fluids clearly on her dark skin. The liquids slid down her legs from her puffy slit. He could see she was anxious and awaiting; moving her back end towards him in desperation. He felt his dick throb and he longed to put it deep inside her dark abyss, but even stronger was his urge to please this kind alien like it had just pleased him. He got down on his knees and looked at her face as she watched him do so, she looked almost confused, at least until she felt it.

He started to gently rub his finger up and down her slit, letting it slide in a bit and feeling the warmth and wetness of her. Moving his head to her dripping wet slit, he looked at it then slowly brought himself closer to it and licked at her wet lips with his tongue making her twitch and purr. Taking his head back for a moment he saw her lean her hips back closer to his face, hoping for more. He tasted her fluids in his mouth and was surprised by how edible they actually were, they were surprisingly sweet, and a little salty and bitter, with a pinch of sour. Over all though it was good enough to eat and he took his fingers and spread apart her slit. The sight was remarkably human looking, though it lacked the pinkness and was only somewhat lighter in color than the rest of her, it came with a clitoris, a tinkle hole, and his favorite part, a tunnel of love; though all of these things seemed a bit smaller than a humans would be.. She was obviously getting impatient of waiting so he brought his face right up to it and began to eat out that marvelous alien pussy.

_She had somewhat expected him to immediately insert himself into her, as instinct told her to expect but he did not and when she turned to look, he was getting on his knees. "What is he doing?" She wondered, hoping he had not had second thoughts. Only moments later she felt it, he was touching her, playing with her lower lips. It felt marvelous! She was still curious as to why he was doing this, had she guessed wrong about his mating tool? But she then realized what was happening when she felt something soft and press against her wet lips. She purred loudly and knew what it was that he was doing, he was pleasing her and not himself because he cared so much about her! Oh, then she stopped feeling it, she moved her hips back hoping that he would go on and yet hoping that she was not being selfish by being the only one receiving pleasure, or maybe he got pleasure from just pleasing her. She hoped so. Feeling his fingers again on her pussy, she then felt him spreading them apart. "What next?" She thought in eager anticipation._

_She could not contain herself and purred loudly, she could feel his soft tongue rubbing all over her female parts, his tongue sliding up and down, around her clit and even sticking it a little bit inside. He was doing so like he was cleaning her, but she knew he was trying to pleasure her, or maybe he was just cleaning her? Either way it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt and the feeling of it was beginning to show its affects as she felt herself nearing, something. Something good she knew but she was not sure what and she could feel her muscles start to tense as something was building up. It just felt so good! Then she felt his tongue move away, she was almost saddened and looked back at him. He had her fluids all over his face and was licking at his lips trying not to waste any. "I must taste quite good." She thought. She saw that he was getting up and a part of her almost thought that this was the end. But it was not._

"These have to be the best tasting girl parts in the world." He thought, though he had only tasted a few others, all of them human of course.

He then stopped, as he had a feeling that she was getting ready to come and he knew that he would have to make her wait for that a little longer. When he stopped she had looked back at him and while he was trying to lick some off his lips, he had hoped she wasn't angry about him stopping. He almost was going to go back to eating her out to stay safe but decided instead to quickly get up and finally plunder this mysteriously tasty black booty.

_She could feel the head of his member rubbing up and down between her lips but not yet inside her, it felt wonderful but the anticipation was killing her. She was about to wrap him with her tail and pull him into her when she felt a pressure against her hole. At that moment before he had time to pull back she shoved hips backwards, forcing him into her. Then fast as lightning she put her tail to work and partly wrapped it around his waist to stop him from pulling back. She opened her maw and breathed out heavily, it was a little painful but her body was screaming with joy and pleasure. He fit in tightly and her insides stretched more than they had ever before. _

He breathed hard as she smashed her hips to his groin and took in the entirety of his member, he was slightly alarmed and was going to pull back when her tail flung to life and hooked around his buttocks and kept him from pulling back. But almost as fast as he tried to pull back he almost came right there and then. The inside of her pussy was tight, warm, and slippery wet. He was not even moving but it still felt so good and her ridged muscles were massaging every inch of his throbbing cock.

He put one of his hands on the base of her tail and he felt it loosen from behind him and slide up so that it came up his chest and hung down the back of his shoulder. He then began to slowly pull out, he could feel her muscles trying to pull him back in and before he was all the way out he pushed himself back in. At this he saw her fall to her elbows and was kneading the comforter of his bed, she also had her head down, putting her in a very submissive looking position. He brought his other hand up onto her hip and with one hand on her tail and the other on her hip he began to rhythm his pumping and stabilize his breathing while trying not to come yet as his partner gently gyrated her hips and massaged his member, purring loudly almost like a growl all the while.

_"This is too much." She thought, as he slid in and out in and out, filling her up and rubbing her insides while they pulsated around his cock. The squishing sounds that were coming from they love making were like music to both her and her lovers ears._

"Ah, I'm getting close." He said, hoping she understood him. Her pussy was now warm, very warm, perhaps from the friction. But it was becoming too much for him and he knew he would not last much longer.

_She did understand him and wished she could hear her when she said "Me too."_

He had held up as long as he could but it was inevitable. He lost rhythm and began pounding his pelvis ramming against her ass, making a slapping noise as well as the loud squish from her pussy as he stuffed himself into her then pulled back then stuffed himself as deep as he could as her whole pussy began to pulse powerfully and she began to move her hips faster. His whole body tensed and his dick screamed for release. He pushed himself against her body as he came, feeling the end of her pussy as he did.

_"Here it is. Here it is." She said to herself as she neared her climax and he to his. He proceeded to pound her as hard as he could and squeezing tightly on her tail as he began to come, bringing her to her climax and causing her whole body to go mad as she came. Her hips moved on their own trying to get that last bit of pleasure as she came and he muscles twitched and tensed, as hers and his body went through a great sexual release._

He felt himself coming deep inside her and her whole body still seemed to be trying to suck him in, pulsing and massaging every last drop seamen out of him. He breathed heavily as did she and then they both slowly fell/laid sideways onto the bed. He gently slid out of her as they did so and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arm around her waist and because of the shape of her head he pressed his head up against her upper back. He did not know what to say to her or if she could understand what he had to say anyway but he felt he should say something. "You were great." He started. "I uh, hope we can do this again..." That's all he said, not knowing what else to say. He dropped his head down on the mattress feeling a little stupid. _Why did I say something so stupid? _He thought.

_She was so very happy and yet too tired to show it right now. Her insides were a bit sore but she could feel his seed inside her giving her a feeling of fullness, although she could feel the warmth of it leaking out a bit. So she focused her thoughts on her one and only, her Life Mate. He had pulled her close to him almost like he had read her thoughts of wanting to be held and together they fell asleep, wondering what the morning would bring._


	2. Love me in the morning

_My hand, my hand is being moved,_ he thought in his nearly asleep mind. But suddenly it stopped, and it was now resting somewhere different than it had been before. He stopped caring and started to drift asleep again when his hand started to move and he felt his fingers being pushed against the something. He could feel moistness. It was to this and a soft purring that finally woke him to find that his new found lover could not be made to wait for him to wake. They had laid together spooning as they slept, him with his head against her upper back as hear long head stretched out above him. He opened his eyes but kept the rest of his body limp, so she would not know he had woken. He breathed evenly as if he were asleep as he let her continue to use his fingers for her own sexual pleasure.

_She hoped that he wouldn't mind her borrowing his warm hand. But she had been waiting for so long now for him to wake but he still had not. So very carefully she moved his hand, which he had stretched over her, down to her lower region. Her body immediately responded to his touch and she started to get wet. She couldn't bring his hand far but it was enough that she began using his fingers to rub her lips. She ever so gently slid his forefinger between her soft lips and, with the help of her own moistness; she brought it to touch her clitoris. With delicacy she began to rub her clitoris with his forefinger. It felt so good she started to salivate from her mouth and started purring softly, though she didn't much notice either. She quickened the speed of his finger's rubbing and found herself having a hard time keeping herself from squirming. She was not sure if she could stand not having him for much longer, the smell of his sweat from last night and having her clitoris touched in such a way was more then she could bare. "I will wake him, he might be angry for being awoken but I will make it up to him and he will forgive me I am sure of it." She told herself. And as she made ready to turn around she hissed in bliss as she was penetrated by the fast movement of the finger she had just been using to pleasure herself._

"She is really something to be this horny."He thought as he let her use his fingers to play with her clitoris. "I suppose I shouldn't keep her in waiting...; though I suppose she isn't really in waiting." She had begun to speed up movement with his finger. Though, he wasn't sure though how much longer he could contain himself, he had a raging hard on which so far had gone unnoticed by her. The slickness between her lips that his finger was feeling was making his dick extremely jealous and he wasn't sure if he could control it for much longer. "It's like her horniness is contagious" He realized as he felt his partner slow down on the rubbing she was doing with his finger until she finally stopped and lay still. "Why'd she stop?" He thought and without second though he moved his hand and brought his fingers to her hole in a swift slide and thrust his middle and index fingers into her. The slick walls of her love cavern squeezed his fingers in rhythm with his thrusts. He rubbed the top of her love cavern, stimulating her G-spot. After staring at the back of her neck for all this time, he moved his head forward and began to kiss it softly. He heard her more loudly purring in her throat as he loved her from behind. He heard her purring grow louder and he felt that her muscles were starting to work faster.

_"Ohh, I'm almost there." She thought, "How did I ever live without this?" She could feel his fingers inside her squeezing in and out of her, making a perverse noise. And She couldn't help but squirm a bit as she was nearing her finally, and then she felt it. She felt his stiff member pressing against her and she decided that she wouldn't climax alone._

He knew that she must was going nearly there and started to speed up his thrusting, but he felt her hand grasp his and pulled his fingers free from the depths of her. She lifted his arm and brought it off herself, making it almost look like she was returning it to him. He opened his mouth to ask why she stopped him. But he said nothing as she got onto her knees moved until she was facing him. He began to get up as well but she put her hands on him and kept him down. He was laying on his back and took a moment to stare up at her dangerous beauty. He could see how soaked she was as her juices were all over her thighs, making them shiny. He realized what she wanted to do when she began lifting her leg and bringing it over his head and with a little wiggling she was directly over his face. He could see her soaked puffy black lips; a thin line of her thick juices stretched between her thighs over him. He could smell her very strongly from here and it was making him very hard. His member was standing up and was all but begging aloud to be touched. But instead of waiting he got to work on her first and brought his face up to her lips and began cleaning the juices from them. He first licked at the juices on her upper inner thighs as he slowly made his way to her puffy lips, letting his tongue slide between her lips and wiggled it against her swollen nub; Making her squirm.

_"Oh, yesss! He is doing it, I wasn't sure at first but... Mmmm" She thought as he licked eagerly at her inner thighs and made his way to her lips. She hadn't been sure if he would like to do it like this but it was obvious that he was enjoying it. His member was pointing up at her and she could almost imagine it asking her for love; which she happily did. Leaning down she brought her face to it and rubbed her nose against the little head. Feeling its warmth on her face felt nice but she knew she must do more, I'm so close I need him to get there too. She opened her mouth and brought it over his member and proceeded to very slowly extend her secondary jaws towards his throbbing member. Careful of the teeth of her second set of jaws she slowly brought his member inside. She heard him moan and stop licking her for a moment; She didn't move. She knew he must be looking at what she is doing, and she knew he must be unsure. She had never shown him her inner jaws and he could not see them now; She imagined from where he looking it appeared that she had just put his member into his mouth. So she began to slowly move her inner jaw up and down along his member, drooling immensely onto his lap. He wiggled a bit, like he was trying keep time with her jaws. He started to ease up a bit and began licking her again, this time though she could feel him spreading her lips with his fingers as her licked her clit. She clenched her toes as her clit was licked. She was breathing heavy to try and hold her climax for just a little bit longer; the feeling of his warm tongue massaging her sensitive bump and using his fingers to penetrate her. She began to work faster on his member._

The feeling of her mouth around his cock was amazing, it was a tight fit, making it all the better and was extremely slick with her thick saliva. It squeezed around his member and massaged it almost like a cunt. He didn't think to wonder why her mouth felt like this. He felt it speeding up on his member and could see his alien lovers head bobbing slightly as she worked on it. His face was covered in her juices as he licked more quickly as well, she was dripping juice onto his face and from there it was dripping down his neck, it was soaking the comforter beneath his head. He felt his climax begin to come as she started thrusting him in and out of her even faster, the slickness of her mouth causing a slimy schlicking noise as she fucked him with her mouth. He knew he wasn't going to last long so her thrust two of his fingers inside her in speedily rubbed against her G-Spot while licking at her clitoris.

_"I can't hold it anymore." She thought as she was taken by her climax. She pulled her inner jaws off of his cock and screed loud and long as she came. And even as she sprayed him from this end, she drenched his face from the other as her body shivered and tensed under the fierceness of her orgasm._

His body tensed and released in the grandeur of his orgasm, he thrusts his hips up as he did and shot at her. His fingers were still wiggling madly inside her as her muscles squeezed and convulsed when her orgasm hit almost in sync with his. And from her convulsing cavern she gushed warm juices onto his face and into his open mouth. And from her urethra a strong smelling squirt flowed onto his face and into his mouth as well. The juices from both holes tasted relatively similar in deliciousness. Both tasted extremely sweet with a couple pinches of salt.

_She realized with regret that she had pulled off his member and so he had not cum in her. But from what she could see and feel, on her face, she had made him cum a lot." And just in time too." She thought, as she realized how exhausted she was feeling after her orgasm. She slowly pulled her inner jaws into her mouth and watched as the tired member of her mate slowly limped over in exhaustion. She reached up with her hand to touch her head and face and felt that there were a few shots streaked over the front of her head. She didn't touch them much and decided to leave them, so that she would be marked by his scent. She carefully made her way around so that she had her head resting on his chest, with one of her arms reaching over him. He smelt strongly of her juices and she hoped he didn't mind, they were now both marked properly with each other's scents. Her orgasm had left her quite tired and she hadn't slept in a while and was feeling the effects of such practice. She began to drift off to the somehow comforting sound of his heartbeat, as it slowly calmed down from the exertion._

He looked down at his obviously tired bedmate, she was breathing heavily and was fairly limp against him. He saw the streaks on her featureless face and reached up to try and thought to try and wipe it off with his fingers. She then squirmed a bit and brought her hand to meet his in a "Leave it" like gesture, so he left it. She then laid still and eventually her breathing calmed down and she was breathing regularly and even. "She fell asleep quickly." He thought as he came to that conclusion. He on the other hand was not as tired as to fall back asleep, and he was hungry too. Not to mention he badly needed a shower, her juices were drying up and it was making his face itch. Carefully he moved and like a boss he replaced his chest with a pillow ninja quick and quietly made his way to the shower, content he had been flawless in not waking her.

He was about to step into the shower but decided just to wash his face for now, then eat, and then have a full shower. He was unbelievably hungry and he couldn't stop thinking of food as he washed his face and neck quickly then throwing on his robe he went to the kitchen and made himself a quick throw it in a pan, heat it up, breakfast; while he ate a peanut butter sandwich as an appetizer.

He opened the kitchen window to let out any of the breakfast smells so he didn't wake up his sleeping lover. But in doing so he smelt fresh air from outside and when he brought himself more inside he had an interesting realization. This entire place stinks and he was sure it wasn't just him, although he was sure he himself didn't smell any better. "It smells sweet and sweaty. " He then also realized with the breeze of fresh air that he was still naked. With a little humility he dumped what was in the pan into a bowl and devoured it. He was done quickly and after taking a pill to ease his sudden head ache he head off to the shower.

He turned the shower on and stepped into the large glass room and under the stream of hot water. The warmth of the water helped get the dried juices of his person. The hot water also renewed and ten folded the smell of the juices for a few moments before they were washed away. He felt himself stiffen in the moments that the scent of her juices was so strong and he felt intense lust. Then the scent died down as the juices were washed away. He looked down at his member and went back to scrubbing himself with a loofa. He realized then how strongly he had been affected, and probably was still, being affected, by her pheromones and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. His was staring at the wall and felt that his erection was slowly slouching back down. But if his innards hadn't been so empty he probably would have shat something terrible when a cool hand grabbed his cock. His stomach clenched and he tried to jump forward but there was now a hand on his middle, so all he did was wiggle around briefly in his moment of terror. He quickly stopped and breathed in and out heavily and tore her hand off his cock and turned to berate his lover for scaring him like that. In fact for scaring him at all, surely she realizes how terrifying she can be. He looked at her and opened his mouth to say... something. He wasn't sure how to tell her not to scare him. "She probably didn't try to." He thought. And so he closed his dumb mouth and realized he would need to get used to her stealthy ways. He was still a little angry though and so he kept his angry face on. Although maybe she could learn to make herself known before grabbing him from behind, even if she was grabbing in a good way. Hopefully that would be the only way she would ever grab at him. As he thought this she still stood there in front of him, he could feel the water showering his back. But she was still standing there, very still with... with her head down. "Now I've done it!" He thought. "Maybe she was just trying to surprise me. Oh, shit." The angry face was now off his face and he smiled to her. He quickly brought up his hand to touch the side of her head and let her know it was alright.

_She had watched him leave the bed and leave to most likely eat, as was his morning ritual. She had been asleep in bed for a while until she heard running water from his cleaning room. She was a little sad to hear the water, "He always smells so bad when he gets out." She thought. Then it came to her that maybe she should help him to clean himself. "Maybe we could even do a little more than bathe."_

_The door slid open silently as she approached it, she could see him through the glass, he was rubbing himself with a rough looking thing; probably to scrub off grime. The air in the room was already very moist and warm, and she liked it very much, it felt right. She came into the glass enclosure; he still hadn't noticed her, his back turned to her. For a second though she thought he would see her as he adjusted his body under the stream of water. But he turned back and didn't notice her, but she had noticed something about him. He was in the mood to mate; his stiff member was showing as such very proudly. She decided she would surprise him with her presence and give him the pleasure he wanted and receive the pleasure that she wanted. She got very close behind him and with quick movement, reached up and grabbed his mating tool. His reaction was sudden and unexpected. She had not meant to startle him so much; perhaps she had not thought it through as much as she should have. She bowed her head in submission ad apology, hoping he would forgive her. And to her relief he brought his hand and touched the side of her head in the sign of forgiveness of her kind. Though she was fairly certain he did not realize its meaning, she still pushed into his hand. She crooned and stepped up closer to him, and touched her body to his; he looked like he was about to lose balance and so she quickly brought her hands around him and kept him close against her. She felt him relax in her arms and he too brought his arms around her. Together they held each other like that for a time._

_Then he said: "You could probably use a shower too." She put together that shower, must mean have water run on you. And she realized that he wanted her to clean herself with him, just like she had originally come to the cleaning room for. Still in their embrace he then said: "Shower, rainfall." And the water that had been running at his back turned off and water started to fall from above them. She felt warm water fall against her. She looked up to see that it was falling on them through holes above. The water felt nice and it fell, almost delicately, onto them as they embraced; neither one of them felt like ending this contact._

_Forever and a moment they stayed together, the only sound being their breathing and the patter of the water hitting the floor. She began to feel his hands moving on her back; Slowly rubbing almost massaging her. She crooned at this and purred audibly. She then felt the hands come off her back and onto her hands resting on his back. He took her hands into his and undid their embrace, much to her dislike. But right away he began rubbing her, starting at her shoulders, moving his hands in rhythmic motions. Then slowly he moved his hands down unto her chest and rubbed gently as he continued his way down her body. His hands were at her stomach now and still they continued down wards, until he had each hand resting on both her thighs. The entire time he had been looking with love at her, as she purred in pleasure. Nobody had touched her like he had their first night together, nor this morning, and not even now. He was all she could ever want._

Both hands resting on her thighs he had not once glanced away from her, he watched as the water fell in beads of her black form. All the while he had been gently massaging her she had crooned and purred, there was no mistaking that she was greatly enjoying it. She looked at him and he held her gaze lovingly, smiling. And as he did this he let one of his hands release her thigh and it slowly reached out for the bar of soap. He grasped it and slowly brought it back; he brought it up to her chest and started to soap her chest. But she reacted fast; stepping back quickly and bringing her hands up to her chest. She lowered her head for a moment then brought it back up and looked at him again. As if she was saying: "Sorry, but no."

_"So that was what made him smell so bad after his cleaning" She thought. She was astonished that he would even think to use it on her as well. And she then realized that he must not realize just how bad it made him smell. She lowered her hands and walked up to him and held her hand open, palm up, hoping he understood what she wanted. He did, and put the smelly bar in her hand, much to her dislike; she knew that her hand was going to smell like it for a while as was her chest. But she took the bar anyway and walked over to the shower exit and tossed it out in no direction in particular. She walked back to him and saw that he was a little shocked at her display. She thought then that maybe he had liked the smelly bar even if he didn't know that it smelt bad. "He might be upset with me for that." She thought. She hoped he would not be angry at her for it. She lowered her head in submission when she had walked back to him. When she came up to him he only took her into an embrace again. Only this time his hands started massaging her back as they embraced. She purred and crooned in pleasure as he rubbed her back, and as his hands slowly moved down her back, massaging as they went down, until eventually they came upon her buttocks. And they did not stop massaging, she felt him groping and squeezing her hindquarters. She hissed in pleasure as he continued to fondle her cheeks, squeezing them tight. This play was making her wet, and she could feel his erect member touching against her inner thigh. He wanted her, and she wanted him._

Slowly she stepped away from him, breaking their embrace. She walked casually to the wall of the shower and placed her hands on it. She then lowered her back into a bent over position, her head still up looking over at him. He didn't even need to think, he walked over to her, his stiff member leading the way. As he approached she pulled her tail out of the way, revealing her swollen black lips, and her small puckered cherry. He got on his knees as he arrived at her behind, making her lower her head so that she was looking at him from bellow her arm. He was pretty sure she knew what was coming up, as she shuffled slightly on her feet, almost moving herself closer to him in anticipation. He didn't keep her waiting and began to rub his finger between her moist lips.

He didn't play around for long and soon stuck a finger into her, feeling her tight wet confines around his finger. Slowly he moved his finger in and out of her, hearing her purr in pleasure. Using his finger he rubbed the top of her inner wall, feeling her swelled G-spot. He began to rub as he fingered her, making her hiss in pleasure and squirm her body as he pleasured her. After only a few minutes she had already begun squeezing his finger in pulsations, which he matched with his thrusting. Then carefully he pulled his finger, out and pulled his face close and licked at her wet pussy. He did not lick long though, he longed to be one with her again, and so he stood up with the salty sweet taste of her juices on his tongue.

Positioning himself behind her and brought the head of his member to her entrance. She hissed loudly and let her head fall, and lowered herself and in doing so brought her body back, pushing half of his cocks head inside of her. He didn't keep it so far out long, he thrust himself inside her; making her screech in pleasure. The tight embrace of her love tunnel squeezed in joy at his member's arrival. Her treasure cove had become very slick in anticipated preparation for his arrival. He began to rhythmize his thrusting, holding on to her hips as he moved in and out of her. Each time he pulled out and thrust back in, bringing them both closer to orgasm. The water still fell on both their bodies, making their love making even more pleasurable for them both, as the sensation of warm water falling onto their bodies made every thrust more pleasurable. Her insides were warm, wet, and tight, and they squeezed and massaged every inch of his member each time he thrust back into her. Her insides were contracting faster and faster, as he kept rhythm and she had begun twitching her tail at her side very quickly and moving her hands along the wall. She was purring loudly just as he was moaning quietly and began to breath more heavily as they both neared their climax.

_"So, close." She kept thinking as she neared her climax, "And by his thrust speed he must be nearing his too" She thought as he pushed deep inside her before pulling out, her insides trying to hold him in and then relishing in his return. Neither was going to last much longer. Lifting herself from the wall she brought her long head to rest of his should and pressed herself against him; Reaching her arms behind her to touch his hips as he continued to thrust into her, more quickly and erratically as he neared his climax and she neared hers with each thrust until it became too much and she lost herself to the pleasure. She screed loudly and moved her body with his as she came; He was more audible this time too and moaned out loading in pleasure as he began to shoot his load inside her. Her muscles practically vibrating around his member as her entire body shook and screamed out in pleasure as she climaxed._

_His thrusting had stopped, though she could feel his member still twitching after orgasm, releasing the last of his seed inside of her. They stayed together with her back pressed to his abdomen, as his member slowly lost stiffness and slid out of her. Neither noticing the thin line her thick juices still attached to his member from her cavern. He breathed heavily still of the showers warm moist air, and she too did this, she could feel his heart beating on her back. And he had now put his hands around her stomach, locking them together around her_

_. Together they stayed, with him holding her, and it was silent except for the falling of water and the sound of his heart and breathing until he said. "I think I am in love with you." Then brought his head and rested it on her shoulder, and before resting it completely he brought his mouth close to her head and pushed his lips to the side of her head._

_ The gesture was strange to her, but the meaning of his words touched her differently than she had been touched even by him. They made her feel unprecedentedly happy and sad at the same time, that he felt this way for her, but that she could not tell him how she felt. But she said it anyway, using the telepathic way of her kind, though she knew he wouldn't hear it. " And I love you, you make me feel differently than I have ever felt before. And I promise to forever cherish you with my love to thank you for it." She said from her heart, imagining to herself that he heard it, but knowing he never could. She was started to feel even more saddened when he suddenly let go of her and stepped backwards. She didn't understand why and she turned back to look at him; Shock was on his face, and she could smell fear on him. She was horrified to see and smell him like this; she didn't understand what she had happened, did she do something?. She took a step forward only to hear him say to her something that would not make sense, but would shock her with a multitude of emotions._

Stepping away, he didn't know what had just happened, but he was certain he heard it; though not from his ears. He looked at her, with fear and uncertainty. "Did you just talk?"


	3. To people who want more(New chaps done)

Dear, people who liked my story;

This story was originally going to be a one-shot but after getting so many wonderful comments and so many views I felt obligated to continue and I was happy to do so. But okay here is what I need to ask you: Do you want me to continue without retelling how the two of them met. Or do you want a couple nice prequel chapters. Note though that there will probably not be lemons in the couple prequel chapters. But there will be lots of story telling and I have worked out many cute scenes in my head that will come to play in prequel chapters.

Sorry for being a bug, but I wanted the input of people first before I do anything drastic. Like write something no one wants or will like.


	4. Care For A Bite?

_*Hi, don't worry i'm not dead. :D I just wrote this up today when I realized I have almost 100 REVIEWS! Thank you all soo much! This chapter is almost hopelessly short but I will be posting another chapter this week. No lemons in this chapter but bear with me okay?_

_The sheer number of feelings that struck her in that instant was too many for her to completely acknowledge any of them individually. But she was very aware of one emotion that was standing out strongest amongst the others; A near unbearable happiness. _He heard me!.. How could he have heard me? Maybe he didn't. _She thought for a moment. Her happiness dropped in level as she realized maybe he didn't actually hear her. Maybe he misheard her crooning. She looked at her human lover closely, hoping in all her being he would hear her, as she asked again; as if she were talking to her own kind: "Can you hear me?". She asked, nervously._

The voice he had heard had spooked him quite well he realized, as the hairs on the back of his neck laid back down. He looked at his black lover as she stood under the falling water, the steam embracing her; she was still in all but her tail which was practically swishing side to side; splashing water against the walls of the shower. He took it as a sign of happiness though and he wasn't exactly sure why; days ago though he would have assumed she was stretching her tail getting ready to use it. But he trusted her now, and he hadn't been entirely sure why but he got only good vibes from her; even now, though she appeared to be doing nothing but swish swishing her tail. And now he felt now he might learn whether those vibes were telling him the truth.

He hadn't been sure at first what had been happening; All of a sudden there was a ringing, not in his ear but inside his head. The ringing was horribly loud but came and went so suddenly he barely had time to register it. And once the ringing stopped he heard her; and her confession. He did not doubt he had heard her._ "Can you hear me?"_ He heard her ask her voice clear.

Before answering he rolled her question in his head replaying her voice. It was like a beautiful woman was whispering in his ear, only louder than a regular whisper and in his head. He opened his mouth and quietly acknowledged her question with confirmation. "Yes." He said, almost whispering, like the voice. The sound of water falling seemed so loud then, and he wondered if she had heard him.

He didn't wonder long though; fast as a cat she moved to him, he barely had time to start to lift his arms in reflex before she had her arms wrapped around him and was pressing her entire body against him. He had to shift his head up and to the right so that she could press the side of her face against his heart; her long head touching the side of his turned face. It was a mildly awkward hug; more so when he noticed that she had wrapped her tail around his them. His arms were still free and the only thing he could think of doing was to return the embrace as best a human could. He wrapped his arms around her and breathed out heavily, realizing then he had been holding his breath since she had moved on him; she crooned softly in his embrace.

"_I'm happy you have calmed_." He heard in his head.

He wasn't sure if he should say anything; he managed a meek: "Yeah."

She did not answer and he then felt a little stupid for answering what wasn't a question but a statement. He resisted the urge to shift on his feet in their embrace, he thought about what to say now that he knew she could understand him.

He had known that she was intelligent, even enough for communication but he knew she would never be able to say anything in any human language. The time had never come in which he really needed to tell her anything as she always understood what his subtle body gestures meant. And now, he didn't even know what to say to her. When he had said he loved her, he wasn't thinking with his head, he knew now; he had been speaking to her from his heart. It had come out of his mouth so suddenly and so truthfully at the time. And now he realized that it was like his heart had taken control, it had taken itself out of him and revealed itself to the person of its obsession. Such a thing would have left him feeling utterly exposed and it did but only for a moment; because she revealed her heart to him. His heart felt safe in her newfound knowledge of it and he hoped hers felt similar.

_She didn't know what to say, or if she should say anything now, right now she just felt the unbearable urge to hold her love and feel his warmth and hear his heart up close; proof to her of his existence in her life. And even though she felt at place and calm in his embrace, the shock that the biggest barrier between them had been broken down still held ground in her gut._

_She thought then to what he had said to her; he had said he loved her, and she had said it back, and he heard her! The moment he had said those words she knew in her every being that he had fully and truly accepted her as his partner and his mate. Showing her feelings for him in all truthfulness had been easy to do in front of him after he said it. She nuzzled her face into him, crooning her love for him._

_She felt him kind of shuffling in their embrace and she realized then that she had somewhat forced an embrace between the two of them; and even locking the embrace with a wrapping of her tail. She unwrapped her tail from around them, loosening their embrace. She let her hands slide from his back, only to have him catch her hands in his own; He held them and gave them a gentle squeeze._

"What's your name?" He asked her.

_She looked at him and hesitated to answer, not because she didn't want to tell him, but because she didn't know what to tell him. She knew that humans referred to each other directly through a word. This was not the way of her kind who recognized one another with emotions and maybe a few words of description. She had always been called "small and weak one" and met with cruel feelings from her siblings._

_She thought about what he would be able call her by. He was looking at her now, perhaps wondering what was taking so long._

"_Xerah... My name is Xerah." (Z-air-ah-) She told him, it had been almost an on the spot name and she hopped he was okay with calling her that._

"That's a beautiful name and it fits you." He told her smiling.

"_That's kind, thank you." She said shyly as she nodded her head gently._

"My name's Eric." He said kindly.

_She wasn't quite sure what to say, and so just said "Your name is beautiful too." though she regretted it seconds later._

He couldn't help but to laugh lightly, he knew she meant well by it though. "Thank you." He chuckled again and saw that she had lowered her head a little bit. He could imagine her blushing right now, and he realized it was too bad she couldn't; it would be too adorable if she could. But she would need red blood for that and hers was definitely not red. He quickly pushed that train of thought of its rails though and continued talking to her.

"There is a lot of stuff I would like to ask you." He said, making her face him again, he looked at her lovingly, with a small smile on his face. "And you would probably like to ask me some things too, right?"

"_Yes." _He heard from her in his head, it was a quick answer but yet when she spoke to him he could almost feel her excitement; perhaps at being able to answer his question.

"Well, do you want to maybe go get some food from the kitchen and talk there maybe?" He asked her.

_She was able to then put together that kitchen was what the place where food is stored was called._

"_Okay." She said. She was glad that he had suggested getting food before they started throwing questions at each other. She was very hungry from all the "over exerting" she and her mate had been doing since last night; She even felt a little sore from it, though she would keep that to herself._

He released her hands and together they left the shower, he pressed a button close to the glass doorway and the water stopped flowing. He pressed another button and the steam and the room started to dissipate. He walked over to a towel compartment in the wall holding folded towels and grabbed one for himself and her.

He turned around with the towels in quick motion and almost fell back as she had been standing right behind him and he hadn't noticed; luckily the bathroom floor had gripped flooring. "Sorry." They both ended up saying at the same time.

"_It was my fault, sorry." She said._

He smiled, letting her know it was all right. "No worries." He said. He held out the towel for her to take and she looked at it for a moment before taking it. He watched as she unfolded it and then wrapped it around her waist and began trying to make it stay wrapped. He resisted the urge to chuckle when he realized that she was mimicking what she had seen him do with a towel.

"Uh, you use it to dry yourself with." He said to her. "I'll show you." He said, beginning to unfold his towel. She held out her towel to him, and he wondered at it for a moment before taking it. He had been going to dry himself to show her but okay, he thought to himself. Taking the towel he began to dry her long head; gently rubbing it along. Working his way down her shoulders he told her to turn around. She complied silently. Her back now towards him he looked at the unique intricacy of her exoskeleton, and looked at with dismay, the scars on her back and was extra gentle drying around them. Slowly he worked his way down onto his knees to dry her buttocks which he rubbed dry almost massage like. He patted dry most of her tail and the back of her legs before standing back up, her back still to him. Letting the towel rest on his arm her reached up and gently massaged between her protruding shoulder blades, feeling her smooth skin. She nuzzled his hands softly with the side of her head humming quietly at his touch as she slowly turned around to face him again.

"Almost done" He said to her. Using the towel he rubbed along her chest, feeling her ribcage as he dried her. He got to his knees again and gently padded the towel along her legs, very gently he padded her 'special spot', making her squirm slightly at the towels touch, still sensitive after their love making. He put his hands on thighs rubbing them gently and kissed her stomach as he got back up on his feet. Looking at her again she looked very cute with her head looking down a little; she fidgeted a little, touching her arm for no apparent reason.

"_Thank you…Eric"_ She said.

"It was my pleasure." He said smiling at her. He handed her back her towel and quickly rubbed himself dry and upon finishing realized he hadn't brought any clean clothes. Tying the towel around his waist he told her of he was grabbing some clothes and she could meet him in the kitchen.

_He left the cleaning room and turned to walk towards the bedroom, the electric door sliding shut behind him. Putting her towel on rack she too walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen, hearing drawers opening and closing from her mates nest room. The kitchen was a stranger place then all the rest of her mates hive. There were many things that seemed to do many different things each time, Eric used them. "My mate is so amazing to be able to use such things." She thought to herself as she waited, looking around the kitchen. She soon heard her mate approaching even before the door slid open, and she turned to see him enter. He was wearing a black cloth that covered all his upper body but for most of his arms; his legs covered with loose fitting leggings._

He came in to see, Xerah standing in the kitchen by the table watching the door, waiting patiently for him he assumed. "So, have you thought about what you want to eat?" He asked her. For the entire time she had been staying with him he had been giving her meat. It was very lucky that he had been able to supply her with meat at all. His uncle owned a chain of butcheries and livestock farms, making his uncle a rich man. Fresh meat was a commodity mostly for the rich if you lived on any planet besides earth, but even then the prices were high. His uncle had adopted him when his father died and it was actually thanks to that money that Eric had been able to go to a good school; not that it ended up doing him any good most of his life.

"_No." _She said unsurely.

"Steak sound good?" He asked her, as he walked over to the fridge; though he was pretty sure of the answer to that question.

"_Steak?" _She said questioningly.

"Um, red meat." He told her.

"Okay." He said reaching into the fridge and pulling out two packaged steaks. "Do you want it same as usual?" He asked looking over at her. She bobbed her head at him and he slid shut the fridge compartment and set down the steaks down on the counter. Now opening the cupboard and reaching for a plate he was trying to shake the feeling of awkwardness he felt. _This talking thing is going to take a little getting used to_ he thought to himself as he opened the steaks' packaging.

* So what do you think? Please tell me what you thought of that little bit involving hearts and lovey goodness; Was it any good? More is coming very soon and I will soon huck a metaphorical grenade or some such into this love shack to get the story really going.


	5. Well That's No Good

*As promised... More soon, I am finding it easier to write now that things are actually happening. Incase you don't read to the end. Fav and follow to keep up with chapter updates. Please review! I love your reviews... Maybe to much. Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter. No lemons again, and probably not much next chapter. She is sore and I won't write a penetration lemon until she is ready.

Taking the plate out of the small glass oven, his nose was struck with the scent of fresh, well-seasoned steak. Steak now in hand he turned to the table and saw that his friend had already taken a few healthy nibbles at her own steak; which she preferred raw. He smiled at her as he sat at the table, noticing a minute amount of blood on her chin; made barely visible on her black skin only by lights' slight reflection at the moisture.

He looked down at his steak and taking his fork and knife cut into it. It once again was not the perfect rare he was promised by the advertisers of this miracle oven: "30 Seconds and you're done. Any and all meats and vegetables, cooked just the way you like in 30 seconds or less with the push of a button. " The ad had said, and though it took less than 30 seconds, which was handy, "Just the way you like it" had been a bit of an over statement meat wise; it did vegetables pretty good though.

Taking a bite of his steak was seemingly the assurance his other-worldly friend needed to begin gratefully eating her meal. He did likewise, though with a little bit more ingrained etiquette.

"So good," _She thought to herself as she ate the meat before her. She had not lived long, and for most of life she had eaten only what the white clothed men had given her; a strange mush of things, drenched in blood; it was revolting. She had even tasted a small amount of human flesh, the flesh her kind was always so hungry for. The taste of human flesh was not bad exactly, which felt terrible to admit. But the memory attached to her first taste of human flesh saddened her when she thought about it, as it was full of regret. This meat though, was so much better than human flesh that she was sure that she could eat this tender and flavorful meat for the rest of her life and not grow sick of it. So perfectly chewy and deliciously juicy, with the perfect amount of fat and surprisingly tasty blood._

_Yet she wondered what her mate had done with his. This was the second time he had had meat with her and she wondered why his meat came out of that thing looking differently than it was when he had put it in; and furthermore, why he even did it in the first place. It was definitely hotter, and it smelled different though not badly, especially after he covered it with strangely strong smelling… stuff. So strange was her mate, and yet she knew he must think similarly of her. _

_"What is it you do to your meat?" She asked him, feeling like asking him about his strange eating might perhaps be a good way to start talking to him. _

He looked questionably at her for a moment then looked to his meal, swallowing the portion of it that was in his mouth. "I cooked it." He said. Though he felt rather like a dunce when he realized he had for a moment expected her to know what that meant.

_"Cooked?" She asked him curiously. _

"Um, I used that that thing to heat it, which cooked it, or um, heated it until it was like this." He said.

_"Why?" She asked._

He thought of why for a moment. "… Well humans, that is my species, started doing it a long time ago. I suppose because it tastes better cooked, and it was easier to eat." He said. "It is also safer for humans to eat because the heat can kill things on it that might make us sick." He finished with. He hoped that was adequately informative enough for her to understand.

_"Oh," She said, she didn't understand why heating it might make it easier to eat or why someone might get sick by eating relatively fresh meat without heating it. She guessed that heating it helped them eat it with their pitifully dull teeth. The first reason he gave to heating it though caught her attention the most. _

_"It tastes better heated? I mean cooked." She asked him, very curious to the fact that this delicious meat could possibly taste any better. _

"Yeah, well, for humans it does. Um, would you like to try it?" He asked her.

_"I, um." She wasn't sure if she should impose on her mate's meal. She wasn't even sure if she would like it but maybe, if her mate liked it. _

_He used his eating tools and cut her a piece of his steak and sticking it on one of the tools he offered it to her. She took it carefully, feeling its warmth and juices on her fingers. He was watching her as she took a bite of it. It was, different; very tender, too tender. But it was interestingly flavorful and juicy. _

_She swallowed the piece cooked meat, noticing that he was looking at her awaiting her thoughts of it. "It is good." She said... "That stuff you put on it tastes good." But it doesn't have enough chew. He smiled and nodded his head. "Maybe next time you could put that, stuff, on mine?" She asked him, hoping to be polite._

_"Sure." He said, "If I am to be chef then I suppose I should know what my quests like. I'll let you try the spices next meal and we will figure out your preference." He said kindly, smiling as he imagined her tasting his variety of herbs._

_"Okay." She said shyly "Thank you."_

_"You're welcome." He said, returning to his meal as she did likewise._

_They continued eating, she was nearly finished her meat. It was then he asked her one of the heavier questions that hadn't been asked yet. _

"Where are you from?" He asked her casually, as if asking any other person where they hail from.

_She wasn't quite sure what he meant by where she was from, did he mean to ask what part of this world she was from? She wasn't sure where she had been born and raised, even after she escaped with the others she still only knew roughly _where_ it was. But there was one word, or perhaps a name that came to her mind when she thought of that place; perhaps because she had heard it said so many times while in captivity. _

_"I am from, Lab." She told him, not sure whether that was even the name of the place. _

_"Lab?" He almost wondered at the strange name. "Wait, you're from a lab!?" He exclaimed, his excitement causing him to lose control of his voice. _

_She shied at the small outburst. " No, maybe." She thought about it for a moment, a little confused that lab was not its' name but what it was. "Yes." She said._

He had noticed her shy at his loud exclamation and he mentally berated himself for it. _If she is from a lab…_He thought about the implications of that. If she was from a lab, then whoever was running the lab knew of her existence. _But was she made in a lab, or she just taken to a lab?_

"How long do you remember being in the lab?" He asked her.

How long?_ She thought. Since she was born... but when had that been? She didn't know; she thought of her first memories. She didn't remember her birth, but she could remember, she wasn't sure how long after, being in a clear box; with men in white coats looking in at her. She remembered that she was constantly falling into the blackness of dreamless sleeps, before waking up in a different place. Sometimes if she was awake for long enough she would try to understand what the creatures imprisoning her were. Their faces were always covered though and only once did one ever get close enough without a mask; it was an old man, who tapped the glass and smiled at her, though his smile felt strangely malicious. That was just while she was young though, as she got older she begun trying to break the glass; and soon received an entire room to herself. It was rectangular and had large glass windows on 3 of the 4 walls. There were two strange places on the smaller walls which she later knew where closed entrances to the room._

_The first day in the room she was free to move around in it, she remembered running around along the walls; stretching her cramped limbs. But she soon fell unconscious once more, and when she woke was close to one of the windows forced to look at it as her every limb was bound. It was excruciatingly uncomfortable._

_ Sometimes humans would come in and forcing her mouth open, would take large amounts of her saliva and would stick long tubes so far down her throat that she didn't know where it might come out. She could feel it in her stomach and perhaps farther and it would stay inside her for a while before they began pulling it out; Making her insides feel like they were coming out with it and she would throw up stomach juices._

_ Other times they came and taking sharp tools they would cut small patches of her skin off, never going deep enough to make her bleed; but the pain from them cutting her sensitive skin was almost unbearable. She would scream at them and beg them to stop as they cut her slowly and carefully, but they would not hear her words or care for her screams; leaving her trembling in pain as they left her_

_ Other days were terrible in their own ways as they invaded her lower areas with strange devices. Sometimes it felt as though they were forcefully mating her, but she could smell only their fear and not their arousal. What they did had made her screech and want to flail her limbs in pain but the binds restrained her, making her whole body only able to shake in pain. Even when they finished she would still be trembling and instead of screeching in pain she would only be able to whimper from the exhaustion. _

_One of the most terrifying things she remembered about being there was waking up with excruciating pain in certain parts of her body. The pain was from her bones being broken in her sleep; and for the next couple visits from the humans they would observe her wounds, always touching them cruelly, making her yelp in pain. _

_She knew for certainty that the pain, fear, and constant shaming would have been enough to draw her into madness; or cause her to become rage bent with hate as it had to some of her siblings. If it hadn't been for her mother keeping her constant company, keeping her strong. Her siblings, though they felt her presence would only ever communicated with her to tell her how weak she was. They would feel her pitiful suffering as she tried to cling to them for support and they would only hate her for being so weak._

"STOP IT!" _She heard, and then a crash then a thud. She was brought out of her mind immediately by the suddenness of it. She had not realized how hard she had been trying to figure out a sense of time from her time in the lab; and had ended up deep in her own mind not noticing the outside world for who knows how long. As she came out she saw to her horror her mate had fallen from his chair. She got up fast, and rushed to him. He was shaking horrifically on the floor, his heart was beating erratically and every muscle in his body seemed to be spasming. His nose was bleeding as well and she could smell the blood, making her scree in terror; he mate seemed to have no control over his body._

_ Getting on her knees she reached out to touch him and try to keep him still, she ended up with a crude whack in the face as she touched his arm and it flung out. Not undiscouraged she went to him again, this time not relenting when his arms flung out. She flung herself over top of him, holding his arms down. His spasming started to get worse, his head started to move side to side, and his eyes which had been closed, opened. She saw then his eyed had rolled back leaving only the whites of them, she didn't understand and yet it scared her and she feared for her mate; even more so when she saw something strange in the whites of his eye._

_"My mate please, stop it. Calm yourself please." She said, not knowing what else to say, she was so scared for her mate. He had never done this before, and it didn't feel like it could be something normal for humans; the sound of his heart the most made her scared that he might die. Sitting on him she to start crooning softly in sadness. "Don't die, please don't die." She told him. "I can't go back to living without you." _

"She doesn't deserve that, no one deserves that, she doesn't deserve that, no one deserves that, she doesn't deserve that…" He started chanting quietly, his spasming started to stop. His eyes closed then opened, revealing they were no longer rolled back; but they quickly closed again, his entire body suddenly went limp. She heard his heart stop.

*Fav follow and review. I hope you liked this chapter, _Evil laugh_...


	6. 1 2 3 Wake up!

_*This chapter is mostly Eric's point of view as I go a little into his past and of course; how he manages to come back from a stopped heart.  
Let me know how I did please, there are no lemons but next chapter will be pretty fluffy... with maybe a little lemon grated on top :3_

_Oh yeah, fav and follow to keep up with updates, though I plan to be doing them weekly as best as I can. _

_He had stopped moving, stopped breathing, his heart was no longer beating. She sat still on top of him, in disbelief, her own heart feeling as if it had stopped. "_No" _she said," _no, no, no, no, no… " Fate can't be this cruel, you can't be dead… _Shock and disbelief racked her body, these feelings trying their hardest to keep at bay the feelings punching her in the gut; the horrid sadness and loneliness that had plagued her ever day at the lab. If those feelings took her now, she would no doubt seek death. _

"_Wake up..."_ _She said, trying to talk to him as she had just moments ago. "You can't be dead, please get up…"_ _To no response she felt her gut tighten, in her head she started to think again and she almost told herself that he couldn't get back up, that he was dead. Panic started to set in and she tried louder, though a part of her was now already giving up. She tapped his chest with her hand, hoping to stir him, "Get up, my mate_, please don't… don't die." _She hummed in sadness close to his chest, hoping he would hear her. _

_She would go mad without him, knew it, and the part of her that hadn't given up kept fighting because of it. "Please get up, my mate, please get up…" "Don't leave me!" She said, starting to yell. "MY MATE, WAKE UP! DON"T LEAVE ME. PLEASE, I CAN'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU! I WON'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! GET UP!"_

_Where am I? _He thought to himself, unable to see anything in the blackness he appeared to be in. It was soon after he asked himself where he was that he began to make out shapes in the darkness. Tall pillars?... No trees maybe? Yes trees. He was in the woods he deducted; as he did a cool breeze blew past him and through the trees, making a strange crooning sound as it swept through. He didn't pay it much mind as he looked up past the thin trees, seeing only blackness above. All the trees he saw now seemed to be leafless, as well he noticed that there was not a sound to be heard. It was as if everything was dead, _or it was winter_ said that rational part of his mind. As he felt a cold chill run through him he decided it more reasonable to consider that it was winter in the woods. The reason of why he was here though still remained lost to him.

He started to walk forward without any particular sense of direction, making the ground crunch beneath him. Looking down he saw that the ground was devoid of grass and seemed to just be cold dirt. Looking back up he saw ahead of him a light in the distance, through the trees. Strange though he thought, that he hadn't seen it earlier. He walked to it, passing by the strangely conformist trees, all of them seeming to be exactly the same the more he noticed them. He ignored it though; maybe it was just dark he figured.

Now standing on the edge of small clearing he could see the campsite and it suddenly struck in his mind that perhaps he was camping. He had only twice gone camping when he was young both times with his uncle; the first time had been after his mother died and his father had been very depressed. When his father committed suicide about a year later his uncle had taken him once more for a weekend fishing trip in the quiet mountains. His uncle was a kind man, caring greatly for his family and tried to help him through the horrors life had thrown at him.

But now though he couldn't remember why he was in the woods camping; had it been just a leisurely retreat from life by himself? Was his uncle here perhaps? The campsite had two tents. This is terrible, he thought. He couldn't remember anything recent; he didn't drink, so maybe he hit his head? He scanned the campsite a moment before coming closer, acting cautious because of his dis remembrance. The campfire in the center of the campsite was still burning as if with fresh logs, meaning he couldn't have gone to get firewood. The fire illuminated the campsite, giving the tents a slight glow and showing a long thick log near the fire for sitting. The fire also lit most of the clearing fairly well, though it failed to show him his uncle; meaning he would be asleep in his tent.

Taking a step into the clearing he gasped in surprise as something caught on his foot and he fell forward onto the ground; landing mainly on his chest which didn't hurt so much as feel like it had taken the wind out of him, but he wasn't gasping for breath after strangely. Getting back onto his feet he took steady steps towards the fire in the center, the crunch of the ground beneath him lessoning as he closed in on the warmth; He felt the warmth of the fires light on himself as well, beginning in his legs and working its way up, slowly coming over him. As he slowly made his way closer he saw movement in one of the tents, making him stop. He watched as a man stepped out of the tent, followed by a woman. The man wasn't very distinguishable from the distance but he could see the long black flowing hair of the woman behind him. His mother had hair like that... Suddenly it seemed as if the fire was burning brighter and he could see more clearly the peoples features. He felt his heart catch in his throat at the realization. His mother and father were standing next to the tent, they appeared to be looking at him; probably wondering what he was doing so far from camp. He stood where he was though, disbelief and shocking making his chest feel tight.

"Eric?" He heard, his father was calling to him. "What are you doing over there?"

"Come on back, Airy, you're too close to those dark woods." His mother called out to him, using his nickname that she only ever used when she was worried; or if he had done something stupid she would call him Air head, poking fun at him with the first syllable in his name. It was only ever funny when she did though. The sound of her voice, though probably nothing spectacular was so soft and kind to his ears.

He wanted to say something back but found his words catching in his throat. He was confused and stared in disbelief at his somehow not dead parents. A childish part of him though, tried hard not to rationalize the situation and wanted just to run to them. But right now it felt like there was lead in his boots keeping him in spot.

"Eric… who is that with you?" He heard his father call out, he sounded worried to. When Eric stayed looking at his parents, still in disbelief and confusion his father lifted his arm, seemingly pointing at Eric. It took a barely a second for Eric to realize that according to his father there was someone behind him; in quick movement Eric turned to face whatever it was. Fear and instinct made him jump back and consequently fall on his ass as he turned and saw that what was behind him was almost right behind him, nearly touching him. It seemed to be a shadow but it was to solid looking, and it was not a shadow like he had ever seen. It seemed to move in gestures of expression the moment he jumped back from it. Suddenly he heard it.

_"Stop." _He heard from it, but not from his ears; the voice seemed to be talking in his head. The only way to possibly explain how the voice sounded was to take a man and give him a snakes accent, if you can imagine it, and ask him to talk to you with a thin cloth over his mouth, slightly muffling him; yeah that sounds about right.

Eric turned his head quickly to look to his parents, partially hoping that his father was coming to help him. Both his parents seemed to be panicking and trying to come over to him, but yet they seemed to not be getting any closer. He turned back towards the shadow that was still watching him, perhaps trying to look into his soul. Keeping his eyes on the creature he started inching back, sliding on his bottom in the dirt.

_"Stop it, you fool!"_ He heard in his head, he didn't stop, and looking back he could see that his inching back was getting him closer to his worried parents.

_"Why do you insist on dying?" The shadow said, "I take full responsibility for bringing you to deaths door, but you can still live. You needn't spite me by killing us both."_

"You tried to kill me?" He asked the shadow not stopping

_"No, I tried to take your body from you when I saw a good chance." The shadow said. "You resisted fiercely, perhaps without realizing it. Your entire body rejected me till it was too much and your heart stopped. I see now that trying to take your entirety all at once will not work."_

Hearing the shadow he stopped inching back, he had heard the words it spoke into his mind, yet they made absolutely no sense. What had it tried doing to him? He was dead?

_"Yes, you are dead. Your heart stopped when you stepped into the light. But you have not reached its source yet, so to speak. You can still come back from this, you have the will, you just have to use it."_

For reasons he wasn't sure of himself he started to look around, re-assessing the situation he was in. It did seem dream like, but that could just be the dark, this thing had even admitted to trying to kill him; maybe he had met it in the woods and was trying to escape from it.

_"So damningly stubborn; do you even remember how you got here? Have you forgotten everything?... Have you even forgot about _her?"_ The shadow said to him, sounding distressed. _

_"Forget who?" He asked the shadow, for some reason feeling annoyed. "What are you talking about?" He said. Un gracefully he got off his butt and back on his feet to face this shadow. He wasn't sure why but a part of him felt defensive the moment he mentioned a "her"; whoever this her was he didn't know, but maybe his mother?_

_"Your mother is dead." The shadow said into his mind plainly, "I mean her." _

Still looking at the shadow he saw it start to change, its head stretching long and from its back he could see a long tail emerging. The shadow kept changing until it had assumed a new fixed shape. It still seemed to be plain and featureless, like a silhouette. Its shape, though strange and alien seemed very familiar. He looked at it closely, and feeling something funny in him he went over to the shadow and touched it.

In that moment he saw in front of him the entirety of the object it was trying to show him in all of her beauty. He remembered now, the strange alien creature that he had nursed back to health and how it had rewarded him with companionship in his lonely life. He saw for a flash second in his mind the relationship that had developed between them and that night they had spent together. Xerah, a name he had only recently learned.

He remembered now what had happened, he had asked her how long she had been in the lab and she had not answered. Instead she had lowered her head as if in thought, and patiently he waited, but instead of a answer he was suddenly barraged by what must have been memories. He learned what those evil nerdy bastards had done to her; to his friend, his lover. What they had done to his mate. Then he remembered a painful tightening in his muscles and then falling, he couldn't remember anything else though.

He looked back to campsite and saw his parents no longer trying to reach him, instead his father was desperately gesturing for him to come to them. His mother seemed to be calling to him, her hands to her mouth, but he could no longer hear either of them. He had stepped away from them when he had gone to touch… what was it he had touched? When he had touched it, and remembered everything, the shadow had suddenly been thrown back to the very edge of the clearing.

He was looking at the shadow, now in its original shape of near shapelessness, barely resembling a man's shadow. He stepped toward it. "Where am I?" He asked it

_"As I said, you are at deaths door." The shadow whispered into his head with its strange voice. _

As he spoke to him then a strong breeze seemed to roll in from now where and with it, it seemed to carry a voice. _My mate, please don't… don't die. _it whispered as it swept past. He was strangely not surprised by the whispering wind, instead he was saddened by it. He knew the voice, even as it floated on the wind and it sounded heart wrenchingly sad in his ears. She sounded scared and sad, her whimpering making its way into her words. He knew he was hurting her by being dead.

Many times he had contemplated dying, he had thought of what it might be like to just not be; to stop worrying about life, to stop trying and just rest without any more sadness or regret. He had never had anyone close in his life besides his uncle; so if his story did end too soon, almost no one would notice. He had gotten some strange content in that, knowing that he would not be missed and he would be hurting no one. But now…

He looked back towards his parents and felt some urge to just walk towards them. He knew that would be the end and he would not be able to return. But in that moment he heard again on the wind, _Don't leave me! _ The voice was stronger than the whisper in the wind, it sounded as if she could be not far outside the clearing.

He turned to the voice, knowing in his heart of hearts that he must go to the voice, to comfort her. He turned one last time to his mother and father; he could see that they had stopped their beckoning to him. His mother had her hands on her face, she was crying and his father seemed slouched over in sadness, but comforting his mother.

He walked forward purposefully towards the darkness that was the edge of the clearing, feeling again like his boots were made of lead. In his ear though he heard from behind him, something that made his gut clench and he pulled his shoulders forward, trying not to cry.

"I love you. I didn't get to say it the night before I left but I do." He heard from his mother, her voice weak and almost choking from her crying.

"I know…" He said weakly, keeping his back turned. He felt his eyes well with tears as he remembered that awful night; his mother had left to work and became the sole casualty of a horrible traffic accident on the way to work a late shift. She had left him with his father and together him and his dad had their last night enjoying each other's company.

He had known in his heart as a child that his father blamed him partially for his mother dying. His father worked long and hard but it wasn't always enough to support the three of them; mainly because of all the expensive hospital bills Eric had given them by being a very sick child. His mother had gotten a job shortly after he was finally healthy to help pay the bills.

"No!" He heard from his father, he sounded as if he was close behind him. "I didn't blame you." He said, he sounded like he was going to cry as well.

"But… it's my fault that…"

"NO. It is not your fault. We both love you so much… " His father tried hard to keep his voice steady in his sadness . " We were so scared when you were in the hospital… When you finally got better we were so in debt to them that we wouldn't have been able to come back. Even if you started getting sick again, those.. bastards wouldn't have let us admit you. Not until those bills were paid." His father said. Eric… I'm so sorry for leaving you." Eric still had his back turned, and was looking at the ground, but he knew that his father was crying behind him.

_"They are trying to trick you into staying, they are not your parents; they are deaths tendrils." The shadow said to him. _

Sucking in breath, Eric lifted his head and let his tears flow freely down his face. "I can't stay." He said, trying to keep his voice calm. Trying to focus on Xerah, he looked forward and began trudging forward once more to the wall of darkness that was the clearings edge; the trees just barely visible further inside.

"That's okay, Eric." He heard his father say, his voice slightly hoarse from crying.

"You shouldn't keep a lady waiting." His mother said, making him stop for a moment as he comprehended that she was saying he should go. He started moving forward with renewed strength towards the wall nearly there. The shadow was only a few feet to his right as he was nearly out of the clearing. He stopped though as he heard his parents for the last time.

"Live happily, Eric. If she makes you happy then don't let her go. "

His throat clenched and he balled his hands into fists as he looked to the shadow. The shadow looked to him and seemed unsure of what was happening; definitely unsure of why "deaths tendrils" would be encouraging him to live. There might have been a reasonable psychological answer, but the shadow said nothing.

"I love you." He said, he was crying and full of mixed feelings but he knew what he had to do. He kicked into the dirt as he ran towards the wall of darkness.

As he was right barely more than a meter from the wall, he suddenly saw black hands in front of his face as if someone was reaching from behind him; the hands suddenly plunged their fingers into his eyes, stabbing into them. He heard then the voice of the shadow. "Piece by piece it will have to be."

He stumbled in the pain that was shooting through his eyes and head, and he heard her once more Xerah's voice. "_MY MATE, WAKE UP! DON"T LEAVE ME. PLEASE, I CAN'T WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU! I WON'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU! GET UP!" Getting himself onto his feet he crudely sprinted to the wall. Unable to see anything anymore but certain in his direction_

He had been expecting to just be running into darkness but as he hit the almost physical looking wall of dark he felt like he had just run through a brick wall. It hit him strongest in the chest, feeling like a he had been hit with a bat right over his heart. ..

He suddenly felt weight on his middle and chest and heard in his head. _"Eric!" _He could hear her scree happily. His whole body was sore and he felt like he had spent a week awake but he managed to open his eyes, but saw nothing. He closed his eyes and opened them again. "Xerah, please... my eyes, are they open." He asked, fear in his voice.

_She was humming and trying to be as close to her mate as possible but she obviously could hear his worry and so she focused her vision on his eyes. "My mate," She said. "Your eyes are open, but… "_

"What?" He said, bringing his hand up to his face and feeling that his eyes were definitely open, yet he could see nothing but black. He could hear Xerahs humming, feel the warmth and humidity of the air, even smell steak he had just cooked; but he couldn't see

_"Your eyes are not as they were when you woke, they are black, love.. But you are alive, I was so scared, Eric…"_

"Black!? I can't see. Oh god, I can't see." He said, he felt so tired then, he started to faint; or maybe he was just falling asleep.

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	7. Ain't that a kick in the head?

_*Sorry this one took soo long... To make it up somewhat, this chapter is more than twice as long as the last few chapters have been. Also, I updated the first chapter so that it was more in relation to the story as I will be taking it. I suggest rereading it or at least just scanning through it, the lemons are the same really, it's the bits before and in between that I changed to get a better footing in where I am going to be leading this story. _

_One last thing... Lemons... You heard me. Lemons. Oh yeah, be sure to review what you thought, liked it or not. And if you did like it, fav and follow. More soon. _

_"Eric?" She asked. The worry she started to feel slipping into her question. He did not answer, and as she listened she heard his heart, which had just recently gone from stopped too frantic beating; but it was now slowing down, as were his breaths. She stayed on top of him still, in part apprehension that his heart might continue slowing down until it stopped. Her cut clenched at the idea of him coming back to her, only to fall back into death. But his heart eventually found a pace it liked and continued at it, his breathing as well was now smooth and unlabored. Her face was still lightly pressed against his chest, the fabric tickling her face as she moved it along his chest. The sweat on his body still smelled of fear and death, but the sound of his heart and gentle breath helped her feel safe in his well-being. _

_Still atop him she looked at his face and at his closed eyes. What had he meant he could not see? She wondered. Maybe he it was just part of whatever happened to him, or maybe he was just really scared from what had happened. But why had his eyes been black? Now that she thought about it though, it was not that his eyes were had just totally gone the color black. It had been like all the veins in his eyes were black, and swollen. And the small black dot in his eye had been so large then as well, making his eye sockets to almost appear to be empty with the blackness; although some of the whites of his eyes had still been visible. It was a scary thought to think her mate might be blind, but she couldn't worry about it now; especially because she was not even sure if it was true. _

_She almost still didn't wish to get off of him, she was so close to him and in that she could not be more content. Though the fear she had felt just moments ago still stained her mind, and she knew it would be a long time, if ever, before she could fully wash it out. She would forever more be cautious of her mate; she would not forget the actions his body took or the smells in his sweat prior to his heart failing._

_ She had already let go of his arms and now she carefully lifted her leg off of him, pivoting off her knee so that she now kneeled beside her mate, who lay before her on the floor; she gently pushed her hand and then her arm under his legs behind his knees. With her other hand, careful of her claws, she slid her hand under his armpit and gently lifted his torso; simultaneously bringing her hand further across his back so that she had him firmly in her arms. As she lifted him more fully of the ground while getting to her knees his head lulled back and off the ground. As she stood she lifted his torso somewhat higher than his legs, helping to bring his head to her hard, exoskeletal breast; which was essentially just bony ribcage, underneath her smooth black skin. She was somewhat saddened then, by her cold, hard exterior and she hoped he would not be unreadily awoken while she carried him. _

_Taking ease in her steps to be sure not to shake him unnecessarily, she walked with him in her arms from the kitchen to the… nesting room? She knew not what else to call it. She was very glad during this quick walk that the walls opened to reveal passage on their own as she approached. _

_Now stepping into the nesting room as the section of wall slid open, she felt the softness of the floor under her feet. The room smelt strongest of their love in here than in the rest of the home, making her feel a little better; as their scents were so much nicer in here than the ones she had been forced to endure just moments ago. She remembered their, almost instinctual, mating as she saw that the cloths that had once been on the soft mound, at the back of the room, were all mostly sprawled onto the floor. Some of them still appeared to be damp in places as she stepped over them, approaching the bed. _

_Gently she lowered him in her arms onto the bed, pulling her arms from beneath him as she laid him down. She stood over him now as he slept, looking at his still pale face and arms, a sharp contrast to the dark color of the cloths he wore and the black hair that laid messily on his head. There was still blood on his face from his nose bleed, though it had begun to dry; she hated the sight of it on his face, but she should let him wake before she cleaned it. He needed a good rest, she was sure of it. She reached her hand down, feeling the urge to pat his head kindly; she stopped though, feeling that was a stupid urge, and instead reached over him to grab the soft object he rested his head on when he slept. Gently she got it under his head, and she was surprised when he still slept on, barely stirring. His heart beating as it always would when he slept, keeping a calmed and gentle pace, as did his breaths. _

_Walking around the soft nest her mate was now laying on, she crawled onto it with care not to shake it too much. Gently shuffling her body she moved closer to him, and as she did he did some shuffling of his own; in quick movement, just as he would do in normal sleep, he turned onto his side and brought his hands in front of him, unknowingly turning away from her. Her own movements did not stop though as she came up behind him and until she was almost pressed against him. Lifting her arm, she lightly brought it over him so that it was around his middle; In that moment, he shuffled back into her so that her chest touched his back. Curling her legs forward like his, the two of them now seemed to fit together and were now close as they could be. He did not seem to be trying to break the embrace and was sleeping; he even breathed in deep and sighed out peacefully as the shuffling to get comfy stopped. Taking care, she brought her tail over the both of them, letting its length reach back and forth over their legs multiple times; as if it were a makeshift blanket for their legs, though with a lot of gap. _

_As she lay with him now her mind drifted to trying to understand why what happened, had happened to her mate. She kept as a very unlikely possibility that this just happened sometimes to humans, or him in particular, but that couldn't be answered till he woke. She found though that the more she tried to figure out what could have made that happen the more she realized she really hadn't a clue. She decided then to wait until her mate awoke; as she lay beside him she hoped that he would not sleep too long. She was not really tired, but still laid beside him, closing off from the world; eventually falling asleep, pressed against his warmth as she was, listening contently to the almost hypnotic rhythm of her mates' heartbeat. _

….

Splitting pain like lightning bolts of pain were coursing through his head and grounding themselves at the back of his head, which hurt the most. He kept his eyes pinched shut in the pain, trying to withstand it, not moving a muscle. He felt the pain sharpen to a point, stabbing him in the back of the head, making him push his head back into the pillow beneath it in pain; he moaned audibly then, unable to keep it back. _"Eric?" _He heard, inside his head. This did not seem to help nor hinder his apparently exploding head, but he did not respond; this and his actions obviously caused worry in the intruding mental voice coming from Xerah.

_"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" He heard. _

He muttered under his breath, "Yeah…" With each breath he took he had to resist the urge to let it out with a stream off profanity, as Xerah, he knew now, was right next to him.

_She now tried her hardest not to begin panicking, as she thought that perhaps IT might be happening again to her mate. But it felt different, and as she looked at her mate now her seemed to just be pushing his head back into his pillow. His hands balled into fists, and his eyes pinched shut as his face somewhat contorted with pain. She didn't know what to do; all he had said was that he was indeed in pain. She had been laying with part of her head on his chest and with her arm and tail still stretched over him. But now she had released him from their embrace and was kneeling on the bed over him. The end of her tail behind her, swishing in quick movement as she looked down on him, fearing for him. Something horrible was happening to her mate again and yet she didn't know what to do; she felt hopelessly helpless._

The pain seemed to be building now, quickly and he started to really panic now, bring his hands to his head. "Ahhh!" He said loudly, trying not to yell. He felt cool hands on his chest then.

_"What can I do? Please calm your heart; it keeps beating faster and faster. Just breath." _He heard the rushed words in his head, but was unable to answer them. As the pain suddenly redoubled, making his whole body tense and he sucked in breath and opened his breath in preparation to shout in the pain. But in barely a moment the pain suddenly seemed to kick off very fast, suddenly dissipating like a hurricane clearing and it seemed to have stopped striking the back of his head. He let out his pent out breath slowly, letting it sigh out of him and instead of scream out of him as it almost had.

"Ugh" Was all he said now. Gently rubbing his temples as it seemed to be helping his head somewhat. His head aching very much so still, but not anymore like it had been and the back of his head now only felt numb and kind of tingly; as if it was as much shocked at the bombardment as he was at having felt its torment. He just tried to breath calmly now, keeping his eyes closed as he tried to relax himself after that horrid experience.

He still felt hands on his chest and he opened his eyes then, and saw above him was Xerahs' eyeless face looking down at him. The sight was normal for him but then he remembered that last time he had opened his eyes he had seen nothing. Closing his eyes and re-opening them, he rolled them around and turning his head he looked around the room quickly before turning back to the pretty alien kneeling over him; to whom he smiled at and reaching up his hand lovingly touched the side of her face, causing her to push her face into his hand in response.

_"What was wrong?" She asked him_

"My head really hurt." He replied plainly

_"It is better now though?"_

"Well, it still hurts. But not as much as it was."

_"And you can see?" She asked him a little excitedly as he reached up to touch her face._

"Yea." he said.

_ After having watched him look around the room she was glad to find that he could indeed see; which was one less thing for the two of them to have to worry about. Reaching her hand up to his on her face she took it in her hand and held it._

Still smiling at her, "Good thing too," He said, "I would have missed seeing your beauty."

_He would have missed her beauty? He thought she was beautiful? But she was not beautiful, she was a runt and she didn't even have dorsal tubes on her back, as they had been ripped off. She lowered her head, trying to think of something to say in return. She didn't get the chance to though as Eric suddenly sat up, and for a few seconds he swayed, seeming dizzy. But he turned his body to her, getting on his knees like her and stayed like that for a moment, looking hard at her. _

"You _are_ beautiful." _He said reassuringly, somehow being able to pick up that she didn't feel the same way about her self-appearance as he did. Then, leaning towards her he took his hand under her chin and gently brought her face up. His own face only inches away. _

"Bunch your lips together. Kind of like this" _He said to her and she saw that he had puckered his lips slightly. She didn't understand what he was doing but complied anyway, trying her best to match what he was doing. In smooth movement and with her still not understanding what was happening, he brought his face even closer to hers until their lips were touching. The act was very strange and yet she felt warm inside as it happened. She liked how his warm, soft lips felt on hers and the feeling of intimacy between the two of them as he now opened his lips partly and closed them on hers; contending her lips to do the same, which she did. Together they did this for a few times until he pulled away slowly pulled away from her._

_He smiled at her and the being the strong man he was, the smile stayed even as she suddenly embraced him; wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. He reacted fast enough to return her embrace, but together they lost balance on their knees and fell down onto the bed; their embrace unbroken though. He groaned a little at this though_

"Mph" He grunted in pain as they hit the bed. Every muscle in his body seemed to be aching, as if he had just spent a day and night working nonstop at a mine. But he tried to ignore it as she pressed her body against his in their laying down embrace. She had a hand reaching under him and one over him as she pulled him close; her face nuzzling his neck lovingly. He had to keep his head pointed with his chin tilted up so that this neck nuzzling was possible. His top arm reaching over her upper back and his other a little awkwardly placed and it now rested under her long head. All together he felt very loved, if not somewhat sore at the embrace.

_"I… I was so scared, Eric." She said to him sadly. _

"Scared? Why…? What happened?" He said, to her, using the hand over her back to now touch the side of her head caringly.

_"You do not remember what happened?" She said, pushing herself back somewhat so she was no longer nuzzling his neck. And was now face to face with him, she almost wanted to put her lips to his again, but restrained herself as she saw him start to speak again. _

"Well, I remember having steak, and then…" He said, and he remembered the near reliving of Xerahs captivity and then that horrid nightmare he had, was it just a nightmare? Mom and Dad… Thinking about it too much though seemed to make his already bad head ache worse.

"And then I was on the floor, my whole body hurt, I couldn't see… And, you, you were sitting on me for some reason…" He said to her, deciding then he wouldn't tell her about the weird experience he had, as he didn't understand it himself; and very likely it was just a dream. And besides the fact, the more he thought about that experience, the more his head seemed to hurt; so he put it aside for now.

_"Eric," She said to him, "You… You fell from your chair, and then you… on the floor. You were having some sort of fit, on the floor. All your muscles were moving a little bit and at the same time. _

"Oh, man. I had a seizure?" He said, shocked.

_"That is what it is called?" She asked him._

"Yeah, but I've never had one before, so it's strange. I am so sorry, it must have been scar…" He was cut off.

_"That was not the end of it though. Your nose, it was bleeding a lot. And your fit was not stopping so I got on top of you, trying to stop you from moving so much…" She said, starting to whimper as she recalled the memories._

"I… It's alright, I'm fine…"

_"You started to calm down though, and…" Then she remembered he had said something, right before his heart… _

_"You started to calm down, and you said. "She doesn't deserve that, nobody deserves that." What were you…" She stopped there. She realized then what he had been talking about, as at the time she hadn't even thought about it. He had seen the memories she was recalling. Maybe… Had that caused all this? Did she force him to endure the pain she remembered?! _

_"I am sorry." She said, quietly, still trying to comprehend the horrors she had forced her mate to endure. _

"You're sorry? For what, you didn't do anything." He said, reassuringly. But he understood right away what she must be thinking. She was blaming herself. Before she could say something again he pulled her close to him, her head on his chest again. She whimpered and screed quietly in despair nonetheless.

_"I am sorry, Eric. I am so sorry!" _ She said to him then, and her voice, sounded like a woman crying, yet he knew she had no eyes to tear from.

"No, its.." He started

_"Yes, it's my fault! I am the most pathetic of my kind, but… I am still a disgusting killer. I made the only person who even cares about me, my mate's heart… stop!" She said trying to push away from him without hurting him, but he kept his arms around her, tensing his muscles as he resisted her struggling. _

My heart stopped? He tried to not think about that right now though as he kept her against him throughout her mild struggling. "It's not your fault, at least not anymore then it is mine, Xerah." She stopped moving around.

"I knew when I took you back with me that I was stepping into a cave of sorts, of which I had no idea what might be inside. " He said to her, "But you know what? I found something by taking that risk, something that I have not felt since… Since my mother… I found love, Xerah, and it was so much more than I remember it being. Whatever happened, is hopelessly small compared to that"

_"I… I love you, my mate. But I am dangerous, Eric. And Dangerous to be around; what if men come looking for me? Men like the ones at the labs." _

"I won't let them take you." He said to her, sternly.

She seemed to shrink now in his embrace, no longer struggling against him and instead tried to be closer to him.

"What they did, Xerah, was not Humane, as in they are horrible, cold versions of what most humans really are. Though there are a lot of bad people in the world, we are not all or even mostly like that, Xerah. "He said, "Am I the only human who has been kind to you?"

_"Yes." She said sadly. "I know… And when I was captured I hoped, that there was some human that I would meet who would tell me what was happening and why it was this way and just… Just not hurt me, or be cruel to me at least." _

"Xerah. " He said.

_"My mother was the only one who loved me, who talked to me, she would tell me to be strong, to keep living. She was the only one keeping me company. When my sisters, mother, and me escaped… Mother stayed so that we could escape." She said grievously, whimpering quietly. "She said she was too big to come and we had a better chance of escaping and hiding without her… I tried to convince her to leave but… She said she had no choice, as she had to save her children, to save me, from these horrible creatures." She said, trying to hold back her whimpers._

"I'm sorry, for your loss... A mother's love is always strong." He said, trying to comfort her, feeling his heart ache at her whimpering. His head still pulsating with his head ache, he tried to ignore it. There was more of her kind here? Sisters and a mother? He had only seen what she saw and felt what she had felt in her memories; he didn't remember seeing any other of her kind. He didn't feel now was a good time to pry her at those details though.

_"You are all I have, in the world. And I almost killed you… I did kill you, but you came back to me. What if it happens again and you do not come back? I would be alone without you; I will not live alone in this cruel world without you." _

"… But what about your sisters?" He asked.

"Hate me, because I shame our species with my emotions and weakness. " She said, coldly.

"That's just… Terrible." He said, unsure of what else to say on the matter.

"Nothing will stop me from coming back to you. As you said, I have beat death once." He said, with more certainty then he was actually sure of.

_"But…" She started_

"You are all I care about, all I have as well; I'd rather die than be without you… If all we have is each other then we will find a way to be together."

_She didn't know what to say then, even with the dangers she would die without him. And if he felt the same way, then it was worth the risk to be together. Wasn't it? They would keep each other safe, no matter what. _

She started to croon softly, in his arms. He let his embrace, which he had kept tight so she didn't break it, loosen. She brought her head up so that they looked each other in the face. Slowly she brought her head forward; bring her lips together as she had before. He knew right away what she was doing and he did likewise; bringing their faces together as their lips embraced. She cool softness of her lips was strangely nice, against his, much like the rest of her body.

This time she was the one who leaned back first, but in her lips stead she brought her hand to his head and touched it gently.

_"How is your head, my mate?" _He heard inside his head.

"Still pretty sore." He said, "I could use a pill or two…" He said, then he remembered a fun fact he had picked up somewhere. "Or a good orgasm…" He said quietly, amongst a light chuckle.

_"I am not sure what either of those is…" _He heard in his head… He felt stupid then at having made such a joke._ "If you can explain what they are I might be able to help?" _She asked him and he realized what he might have gotten himself into.

"Well, a pill is this thing that you can swallow. There are different kinds of course, but I have some that help with sore heads. They are in the kitchen…" He said, starting to get up, grunting as his muscles still felt tender and sore.

He felt a hand on touch him as he started to get up. "_I'll get them, please stay._" She said into his head, to which he was relieved to hear and plopped back down onto the bed. He rolled onto his back as she got up then stepped over him and then down onto the floor.

She turned and looked at him as she said, _"Where are they? And what do they look like?" _She asked him kindly.

"Uh, they are… You know the… thing I kept the steaks in?" He asked

_"Yes." _She replied

"Okay, above that thing there should be a nob, pull on it gently to open the compartment and inside there should be a small red container, the only red one like it amongst the few others. That will be what you'll want to bring back to me." He said to her. Reaching his hand out to touch her thigh affectionately as he looked up at her.

_"Okay." She said. "I'll be back in a moment." Turning from her mate and walking towards the door and out._

He watched her go, his eyes mostly following her lovely backside as it made its way out of the room. Luckily it was not for long as she soon returned, holding something red in her hand as she walked over to him. He still had his head laying down, not looking up and as he did to meet her face he let his eyes goggle at her pelvic area, seeing barely the top of her pretty lips. As he looked up at her he carefully got up onto his elbows and accepted the red container as she presented it to him.

"Thank you." He said, kindly, smiling at her.

_"You give good instructions." She replied._

He looked at the container for a moment and brought it to his mouth, giving it a light tapping shake and causing a pill to pop out and into his mouth. The outer layer of the pill immediately started to liquefy on his tongue and he quickly swallowed it, the liquid coming from the pill helping it to go down. The container then flashed red from a light on it in his hand, letting him know that he had just swallowed the last pill that lay inside it.

"Ah, boy, last pill" He said glumly as he looked at it. He now hoped this pill did the trick, and that by the time it was done the head ache would be too. With a sigh he tossed the pill container away, not caring about littering in his own room right now.

He laid back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before he closed his eyes. Keeping them closed even as he felt, Xerah climb back onto he bad and cuddled up beside him.

_As she laid with him now she felt content but yet she hoped that the pill helped her mate, and if it didn't… "My mate," She said_

"Yep?" He said.

_"What is an orgasm?" She asked_

He gulped back. "Oh, it's um… You know when you… That moment right before the end of mating, that really good feeling. That release?" He said, trying to explain it.

_"Ohh…" She said, now glad to know that such a wonderful experience had a name she could call it by. And glad more still that there was still more she could do to help her mates' head stop hurting. _

_"My mate, can I give you an orgasm?" She asked politely. _

"Oh, Xerah, that's really kind. But you really don't have to, it was more of a joke." He said, smiling guiltily.

_"What is a joke?... But an orgasm will help you right? I want to help." _

"Yes, it could help a bit…" He said, turning his head to look at the wall.

_"Then I will help my mate." She said, bringing herself up and getting off the bed, walking with purposeful steps to the foot of the bed. _

_Crawling onto the bed partly she grabbed the ankle ends of her mates cloth that he wore on his lower half. Gently she pulled slowly bring them off her mate, until the bare skin of her loves muscular legs was visible to her and the cloth he had worn was in a bundle in her hands, which she threw to the floor. She looked up at her mate who scooted himself more into the middle of the bed and was watching her every move. His member had already begun to stiffen in anticipation of what it now knew it had coming._

_With care she crawled up beside he mate, her head lower than her back end, and her tail following loosely behind her, the end swishing. As her head reached his member she nuzzled it with her face, making it twitch lovingly at the contact. She brought her hand up now and gently grasped it, beginning to stroke it slowly. _

"Are you sure, you want to do this?" He asked her. As he watched and, even better, felt her start stroking his now throbbing member.

_"Of course. I will help my mate in any way I can." She said lovingly. "And I will enjoy it too, which makes me even more happier to help." She said to him erotically. _

He laid his head down, no longer looking as he received such wondrous pleasure at the hands, or _hand_ of Xerah.

_Bringing her head over his member she let her saliva leak out of her mouth in a long line over top of his member. Now with it all over his member, her stroking began to be more audible as she brought hand up and down on his hard ridged manhood. The slickness of her saliva making her stroking more fluid even as she was able to tighten the grip to increase her mates pleasure. Making her handsome mate moan gently and she knew then that it had been a good idea. _

_Still stroking his warm and now slick member, she felt herself becoming warm and wet between her legs. Her lower parts obviously wanting what her hand seemed to be keeping to itself. But instead they met with her finger, as she brought herself up onto her knees, still stroking her mate as she started to toy with her lower lips. It was already warm and sticky with her juices as she brought her finger between her soft and puffy lips. Bringing her finger to tickle her sensitive nub, of which she gently tickled with her finger, making her purr as she continued to stroke her mate._

_She had now started to insert her finger inside herself when she heard her mate lifted his head and looking at her finger herself gestured to his member. _" You could just…" _He said, smirking at her for a moment then looking at his member. _"If you're feeling up to it." _He added. _

_Without a word to her mate she accepted his offer, showing her acceptance to him by climbing over so that she was straddling him. Her backside lifted so that his member stood with its head just touching the entrance to her insides. Her mate looked at her lovingly as he put his hands on her thighs and awaited her to bring down the goodness of her insides. She didn't keep him waiting long and with her hand she reached beneath herself and held his member in position as she lowered herself onto him. Hissing as she accepted his hard warmth into her soft wet cavern which welcomed his member home eagerly. Its firmness was welcomed inside her, though she was still sensitive inside and so she brought the entirety of him into her gently. _

_This was their first time mating like this but she figured out that she was the one who was going to be doing most of the work while they mated like this. All for the better anyway though, seeing as her mate was sore and weak right now. So she began to work, bringing her hips up and off his member, which was now bathing wet in her juices. And quickly and gently bring her hips back down on him, encasing his member once more. Making a very quiet slapping sound, as her buttocks hit his thighs. Putting her hands on his chest she started to get really into it._

_ She began to find that whirling her hips as she brought herself up and down helped her to squeeze his member inside her; bringing both of them even more pleasure as he started to pant, and moan, even as she too began to croon. Up and down she went, her movements becoming fluid as she rode him, bringing his hard member in and out of her, sending tingles of pleasure through her each time. She leant down then, stopping her movements for a moment as she brought her lips to his and together they locked lips. _

When their lips finally separated he asked her "You, really like that, huh?" He said, taking his hands from her thighs and taking her hips firmly in his grasp. He then, to a lesser extent of the word, flung her off of him using his body as well as his hands. She now half lay and sit on the bed, somewhat stunned most likely, as he got up off his back and crawled to her.

_"What are you…" She started to ask him, he had come up to her and now had begun to fonder her sex; sticking two of his fingers in and shaking it around inside her, making her purr deeply in her throat, sounding like a moan. _

"I can't just lay there, letting you do all the work. " He said as he swished his finger around in her tight confines, having to keep his hand firmly pushed up so that his fingers didn't slip out with all her fluids lubricating his entire hand. He and her were now kneeling in front of one another, his left hand between her legs doing good work as she moaned at its wiggling.

_"You shouldn't over do yourself to much, you are still sore…" She said to him_

"I'll be okay, I won't overdo it too much" He said to her reassuringly. Though right now he wasn't feeling as sore as he had been anyway. Most likely because of the blood in his head being borrowed by his… other head.

His fingers inside her then began to take advantage a large and soft swell they had found. The large swell being her g spot he figured, and found evidence of soon after as the more he touched it the more she wiggled. He put more pressure on it, massaging it and she started to scree quietly along with her purring. Then, as if she remembered something she suddenly stopped for a moment and without apparently looking back she let herself fall backwards onto the bed. She had been close enough to the bed that her head had ended up over the side, and now she looked up to him.

_"Orgasm with me, Mate." She said, to him, her hips a few inches off the bed to show herself to him, as well as to make this position possible with her tail which trailed off to the left from under her. Her black, puffy, soaked lips exposed to him as she lay with her arms out stretched making her position one of submission. Her thighs themselves were slobbered with her juices._

Crawling over top of her with his legs together between hers, he aligned their sexes, his hands supporting him over top of her; missionary style. She brought her head up then and kissed him as he penetrated into her, making her hiss in pleasure and drop her head back down. She kneaded the air with her claws, thankfully resisting the urge to tear up the bed in her pleasure. He began a steady rhythm, trying to keep time with her ever strengthening muscular squeezes around his member. Each thrust, pushing into her warm, wet, silky soft and muscular cavern, sending pleasure through his entire being.

He was getting close though, and he knew she was too as she was almost crushing his legs with her own as he lay above her and between them; not to mention her nearing spastic muscle movement. He started increasing the power of his thrust, keeping time with her hips as they moved beneath him to meet his each thrust. He wasn't going to last much longer… He started pumping her harder as his climax started to hit him and as he did he felt her shiver beneath him and heard her scree in bliss. She reached up and wrapped her arms around him then as she endured with pleasure, the power of her climax. All her muscles seemingly vibrating around is member as she came, helping him to cum at the same time. His muscles tensed and twitched as he rocked in and out of her tight embrace, all his senses ablaze as his balls squeezed and he shot inside of her.

_She could feel his hot seed spilling into her, only adding to the pleasure as she had climaxed. She lay beneath him for a few moments as he breathed heavily on top of her, just as well as she was to tired and still enjoying the after warmth in her after that orgasm. She felt suddenly his arm reaching beneath her back and in quick movement he pulled her up so that she was pressed against him. He had gotten to his knees as he had pulled her and she with her legs spread now partly sat on them as she leaned against him. Her head resting on his shoulder, he kissed the side of her head as she rubbed the side of her face into his neck. _

Gently they guided each other back down onto the bed, trying as much as they could to not break the embrace. They now lay on their sides, looking into each other's eyes. Though, Xerah didn't have eyes but Eric just looked at the place where they would most likely be on her face.

_"How is your head now?" She asked him, sounding mildly cheeky. _

"My head," He said, and realized he had almost forgotten about that. His head ache was gone though. "is fine… Pains gone." He said to her, smiling. "Guess you cured me."

_"I'm glad. It… was my pleasure." She replied. _

"Good to know you enjoyed it as well." He said jokingly.

_"I always do." She said seductively. _

He smiled at her, and taking his hand he let it rest on her bony chest. Letting his finger trace along the intricacies of her exoskeleton as he let his hand slowly make its way downwards to her stomach. He ran his fingers gently along it. Only to have her suddenly squirm at his touch, prompting him to do it again… for good measure. To which she squirmed more and brought her hand to his, effectively holding it. She hadn't eyes nor the ability to make a facial expression but he knew she was looking at him sternly.

"I hope you know that this has been duly noted." He said to her, practically grinning from ear to ear.

_"I don't quite understand what that means but, you better not…" She said to him._

"I think this is when I laugh evilly…"

_"No." _

"Alright… Another time." He said. "Speaking of time…" He brought his head up and looking over to the bedside table at the top right corner of the bed, he saw that the time was 2:26 AM.

He looked up then to the ceiling and looked at the lights which were not turned on and realized that something here was not making sense. Getting up onto his elbow from their cuddling he looked around the room seeing everything perfectly fine. But that didn't make any sense. He had woken up in the middle of the night in the past, and if the lights weren't on then it would be completely pitch black. Your eyes don't gradually adjust to pitch black either.

He looked behind him and saw that the windows blinds were properly shut, keeping all light that might have been from outside from getting in. The door into the room was shut as well, and he could not see any of the lights on. He wasn't sure it was possible, but right, no this entire time he had been seeing with 20/20 vision, in pitch blackness.


	8. Lets Shed Some Light On This

_*Some more adventure time with Eric! I've been doing to much Eric POV recently so I think next chapter will maybe be all Xerah... R & R please, it really does help me get better as well as inspires. Fav and follow to keep up with updates, which are as close to weekly as I can make them. _

_*My two favorite reviews from last chapter were from Guest Reader, who gave aspired to give me good ideas of which some have been stored away for a good time. Review number two came from Dragonlord66 whom plays a good grammar nazi but didn't give me much helpful criticism. _

_"Eric, what is the matter?" _He heard in his head. His answer was not immediate as in his head he still tried to think of some explanation to the question that now plagued him; how could he be seeing perfectly clear in this entirely dark room? Leaning on his arm to lift himself as he lay on the bed, he looked around the room.

Bringing his other hand to his head he brought it over his eyes and rubbed them gently, suddenly feeling a little light head, probably from getting up and then suddenly putting his head on a swivel as he had examined the room. He finally brought himself to look at his patiently waiting lover as she lay on her side beside him. The intricacies of her exoskeleton as apparent to his eyes as ever, even as her black skin covered it in this room of total darkness. She had her arms brought up together, almost looking like she was sleeping, though she had no eyes to give such away.

"It's…" He started, then sighing he laid himself back down beside her on his side so that he looked at her smooth face. Taking her hands into his own, he told her. "It's nothing…" He said, "You're beautiful."

_ She took the compliment, though not without recognizing it as a diversion of her worry. "… Are you sure it is nothing, Mate?" She said to him as she looked into the deepness of his eyes, she could tell that he was thinking hard about something. _

"Well… You probably haven't had the chance to come to this realization but… Humans can't see without light." He said to her.

_"What… What do you mean?" She said unsurely._

_"Without light, I can't see… I can't see without light." He said, not sure how else to explain. _

_"But Eric, we just… right now… you just said I was beautiful." She stuttered out, trying to understand, sitting up as she said so. How could one only see with the light? What would they see if there was no light? Would they just see nothing? That was a terrifying thought. She had no understanding of what it could be like to not see because of lights absence, she could always see. _

"Well, I can see right now. But I shouldn't be able to, is what I'm trying to say. He told her, no longer laying but sitting up on the bed; Xerah did the same. "I didn't really notice, until now but it is always totally dark in here at night. I shouldn't be able to see my hand in front of my face I always don't, but right now I can; and it's kind of… unnerving me. "He finished, waving his hand in front of his face a couple times. His eyes felt kind of tingly, but he ignored it.

_"So normally you would not be able to see right now without the bright things in the above us?" She asked him unsurely. _

"Yes."

_"I do not think I understand. Why can you see now, if you shouldn't?" She asked him_

"I don't…" He started but didn't finish, losing himself in thought for a moment.

He sighed, and brought himself to let his legs rest of the side of the bed, putting his hands on his head as he remembered the fingers in his eyes and the words. "Piece by piece it will have to be." That thing… it had to have been real then… But, that couldn't be, it was impossible.

Without saying anything he got up onto his legs. Perhaps he did it too quickly, but neither the less as he got to his legs and took a step he realized then that his legs were working against him at the moment. His heart caught as his knees wiggled and he found himself to be surprisingly off balance. He managed a controlled fall onto his backside, though he missed the bed and met thankfully soft carpet; though it was still a shock. He put his arms up onto the top edges of the bed as he breathed out in relief as he realized that could have been worse if he had instead fell forward.

_She was behind him the moment he started to lose balance, on her knees atop the bed, like a cat ready to catch a falling feather. He hadn't much needed her help though as he made his way onto the floor beside the bed. Her hands now resting on his shoulders, she nuzzled the back of his neck, purring. He hadn't answered her question of why he could see in the dark now but not before, but she knew he must be thinking about it. _

_"Are you okay, Eric?" She asked him. _

"Yeah, my legs are just a little loose." He said in reply to her concern. He felt her mushing her face into the back of his neck lovingly. He chuckled at the tickling sensation of her breath on his neck, but almost regrettably he pushed up on the bed to help him get onto his feet once more. This time he stood for a few moments, trying to get his balance again.

_As he rose again, so did she get up; crawling with graceful haste to the edge of the bed before getting onto her feet as she stood up. Getting closer to her mate, she stood near him in preparation should he lose balance again. She watched him carefully as he slowly knelt down, testing his legs this time before he tried walking again. He made a "Hm." Sound as he stood up straight, seeming more sure on his legs now; though she still was not sure. He began walking with sudden ease as he walked past her, though she trailed just behind him. _

"I'm fine now." He said, nodding his head reassuringly.

_"Okay, but what are you doing, my Mate?" She asked him as he reached the entrance way to the room._

"Just turning on the lights." He told her, bringing his hand up to the pad that lay in the wall next to the door. He had half of an idea in his head that maybe he should just try turning the lights on, perhaps it would shed some light on the seeing in the dark business.

The first thing he was certain of when he turned on the lights was the pain that suddenly shot into his eyes. Reminding him of those hell forsaken fingers as they had plunged deep into his eyes; burning them with the pain even as they disgorged them. He didn't scream right away, but not because he was even trying to be tough. He was just shocked, the pain so excruciating that he for a moment just tried not to pass out. But he did without consent of his conscious mind, yell in agony as he brought his hands to his eyes, pinching them shut as he covered them. His second reaction was to hit the lights with his elbow.

"Eric!" He heard in his head as he got a strangely familiar feeling of falling in his stomach while he attempted to turn off the lights. But he knew he must have hit the light switch as suddenly the brightness in his eyes was gone and the pain seemed to almost recede instantly with the lights absence. He stopped yelling and instead just let himself breath heavily, though still moaning. He fell to his knees hands still over his eyes, his eyes still twitching and pulsating with the pains remnants.

_"You Idiot!" _Was the first thing he heard, yelling inside his head, which could only be Xerah; though she had never called him an idiot before. It was strange to as her voice sounded quite off, though it had when she had said it she sounded like she was in pain. He felt her cool hands on his shoulders and in that he felt much calmer from the shocking experience that still reverberated through him.

He almost had to fight with the fear in his stomach that said it might not be safe to open your eyes yet, lest the light burn them again. But he knew he couldn't keep Xerah worried and he had to make sure she was okay, so he opened his eyes to look into the darkness that surrounded them by his covering hands.

Xerah hadn't said anything else to him so far; he figured she must be waiting for him to tell her what was up. Slowly he pulled his hands away from his eyes, "Are you okay?." He said worryingly as he tried to ignore his own pain, bringing his hands down onto his legs, as he still knelt on his knees. Looking ahead he saw the blurry version of what must be Xerah's lower abdomen, nearing to her pelvis, though he could only make out the blackness of it. His eyes must still be in shock, as Xerah was coming out blurry while they still pulsating with pain and they still twitched as he tried to focus.

Her hands were reaching down onto his shoulders and as he looked up to her she knelt down onto her knees so that they were looking each other face to face. Her knees making a sound as if she had knelt down onto something hard, which was strange since they should be on a carpet, he thought. It went with little notice to him though as he saw with disbelief that the blur that he assumed was Xerah, was not Xerah. The blurriness of the black form in front of him was horribly familiar.

He was stunned, his mouth open as he thought he was going to say something but wasn't sure what. It was definitely not Xerah; the head was human, as was the rest of the body, though it was just a shadow of a man and devoid of specific features. It was as he remembered it, in all of its solid shadowy terror.

_"I turn my attention away for just a moment…" _He heard inside his head as he stayed still in shock_ "and you go and screw up what I was just putting the final touches on." _It said to him coldly. The voice sounding similar but this time the muffle he had heard before was not there. The voice also, sounded somewhat different this time, more clear and soft and... feminine. Strange, because remembering the voice as he had first heard it in the forest, it had sounded more masculine; though it was also more muffled then.

_"What makes you think I have a gender?"_

He heard the shadow chuckle for a moment, then without any chance of avoidance, he was suddenly felt a massive force hit him in the side of the face; sending him sprawling back. His head rang and his jaw felt nearly broke and with grunts of pain under his breath he looked up to the now standing shadow, noticing that now it seemed to have a tail though more slender then Xerah's.

_"When you turned on that light, I wasn't ready for that you know, it hurt like hell."_

Gritting his teeth he began to struggle to his feet, climbing to his hands and knees but before he could get up he felt again a powerful blow, this time as a kick to his middle; making him topple over onto his back, grunting in pain and shock as he tried to get his breath back, which had painfully been knocked out of him. The shadow looked down at him and began mocking him.

"So soft and weak, it's like you humans were meant to be beat on by higher beings." It said to him.

As his breath started coming back to him faster and faster he managed a weak "Fuck you." As he said it though he half regretted it as he saw the shadow creature raise its leg in obvious preparation to strike him once more; and it would hurt like hell if he didn't move, but he felt as if his every limb were stuck in a pudding of sorts, slowing his movements.

The leg tensed over his chest as it was about to fall like a sledge hammer over his chest, but then stopped suddenly as the shadow appeared to hear something. Turning his head away from Eric the shadow for a moment turned his attention from its prey. It was in that moment Eric felt that now was as good a time as could come to get away from this thing.

With sudden ease he rolled as fast as he could to get distance between them and with practiced ease he kicked his legs up and bringing his hands beside his face to push him off the ground he brought his torso up and his legs back down at the same time allowing him to stand up; performing a perfect back to feet kick up. He was admittedly a little dizzy from the roll and probably still from that hit to the side of the head, but he turned to the shadow and saw that it hadn't moved from the spot it was in. Eric took this moment to grasp at his side for just a moment as he groaned in pain at having stretched the sore area with his kick up. He didn't fold it long though as he put his hands up in case the shadow decided to try and put him to the ground again; all the while Eric tried his hardest not to wobble in both pain and dizziness.

_"She is crying again." He heard from it as it turned its eyeless gaze towards him. "Well," It said chuckling "Crying as well as she can, given that all she can really do is give that pitiful whimpering." _

His hands clenched as did his throat as he remembered the sound of Xerah's whimpering, the sound he hated to hear above all else. He thought about how responsible she felt for this bullshit that keeps happening when things should be so great. But it was not her fault, not even relatively. It was…that, thing that had admitted to nearly killing him. And it was still trying to tear apart him from her, though he didn't understand why. And as he remembered Xerah's cries for him to come back to her while he was in those woods, remembered the terrible things Xerah had been through… This creature was a monster for adding to Xerah's pain.

The creature still looked at him, as if waiting for something to happen that it knew would.

"Who are you?" He asked it plainly, trying to show no hint of discomfort in his voice, nor the anger he was feeling towards it.

He heard it laugh somewhat at the question and saw it start walking around him, as trying to make a circle.

_"Who am I?" _It said, it's raspy voice echoing through his head. _"I suppose that I am many, but I am also only one." _

"That's not" He started

_"Stop talking." _He heard, only a slip second before he felt pain in his side as he realized he had been punched from behind. It was curious though as he had sworn that he had been following the shadow as it circled him, always keeping himself face to face with it. He grunted but as he did he swung himself back, letting his elbow lead the way and he felt it hit something. For a moment he saw with satisfaction, the face of the shadow turned to the side as he had hit it. Though even so, without looking at him the creature punched him hard in his gut, making him begin to keel over as his innards felt like they had just been mushed into a mess. But before he could even recover or step away he felt a bony tentacle wrap itself around his neck. The tentacle was in fact though the shadows tail, which was apparently incredibly strong; as it slowly, raised him from the ground till his toes couldn't touch the ground. It didn't squeeze his neck so tight that he couldn't breathe, but it kept him up, and it was more than uncomfortable.

Eric wiggled around in the tail made neck vice but to no avail, even trying to dig his fingers into it and pry it off would not work. He wished he had a gun or a knife or something, just to get some sort of advantage. This thing was obviously stronger than him, and he had a strong feeling that here, wherever they were, this shadow was king.

_"I'm glad you think so." _He heard in his head, the shadow laughing openly at him. "_Really glad actually because the two of us are, as always, in _your_ mind."_

His mind? Was this a dream then?

_"It's something like that. Now it's time you shove off, time to wake up…" _The shadow started, but before he could finish he suddenly had a knife cut into his muscular tail.

The knife cut into him like it would cut into a tender steak, and as it did it took barely a second for it to all but drop him as the shadow creature shriek in pain. But Eric was ready and as his feet once more touched the ground he took quick steps back, ready for a quick retaliation on the shadows part. He took steps back until he was at least 6 meters away from the creature. He had lost his knife but soon had another, it was the same knife he had had since a boy from his uncle. The one he had stabbed the shadow with had been a steak knife, and he watched now as the shadow brought the part of his tail with knife plunged into it to his face. He suddenly wrenched it free with a quick tug, breathing in sharp as he did.

The shadow looked at him, and Eric could almost see the hatred in its eyes, but instead he tossed the knife away and laughed. _"The knife from lunch?" _It said to him in between laughs.

_" You are used to lucid dreams, from when you were younger, aren't you? All that time sleeping while you were sick... In honesty, I had hoped you wouldn't remember how to lucid dream, but it appears you can still make things you know well."_

Eric simply looked back at the shadow, his eyes narrowing as he made sure not to lose track of him like last time.

_"Would you just wake up now?" The shadow asked him as if annoyed._

"I won't just ignore what you are doing."

_"You don't even know what I'm doing, you damn idiot." _

"I know that you are making someone I care about hurt, you'll go or I'll make you leave."

_"Oh, so it's my fault that your heart couldn't hold out."_

_"As well," The shadow said. " "Someone I care about"? I know who Xerah, as you call her, is. I am in your mind; I have been right beside you every step of the way for a while now. I have mated her as many times as you have."_

He clenched his teeth and resisted the urge charge at him, or at the very least give the knife in his hand his best throw. "When… How long have you been in my head!?" He yelled at it.

_The shadow sighed "Look at your right arm." _The shadow said to him. But he didn't need to look; he did though touch the area on his arm. The skin in the area on his arm was smooth and still a little tender, as it had been burned not very long ago by Xerah's blood. He had attempted to pick her up when he had found her, and had ended up only irritating an unseen wound, making it drip acid onto his arm. Luckily he was able to wash it off before it ate very deep. He had washed it off with water from a canister that he had at first offered to the wounded xeno, though it had been reply as she had turned out to be unconscious.

"You came from, Xerah?" He asked it, a little revolted that some sort of parasitic shadow creature had gotten into his head from a blood exchange.

_"A stroke of luck on my part, maybe not so for you. "It_ said_" But tell me now, do you still plan on making me leave?" _The shadow asked him as casually as if he were making sure of a plan so he could rearrange his schedule.

"I'm not just going to let you screw around with my body." He said, on the verge of yelling his anger. He couldn't stand a monster like this, and it made him sick to think it was inside him.

_"I'm a monster, am I? Well, let's say I am; If you can't stand a monster how did you withstand Major Gudilin…?" _The shadow said to him, tauntingly. _"At least you withstood him long enough to do all that he did. Why don't you show me that courtesy?"_

"Shut up!" He yelled at the shadow, feeling that the pommel of the knife he held in his hand seemed to change, and what he held in his hand now was heavier. He recognized the weight and feel of it to be his old hand gun; it was nothing special, just a military issue, but that wasn't to say it didn't pack a mean bite.

With his old gun now in hand he pointed it at the shadow before him, bringing his other hand up to add extra stability to the gun making sure he wouldn't miss.

The shadow continued to keep its gaze on him, and though he couldn't see its features, he could feel its amusement. In one quick moment though the shadow suddenly arched his head to the side, then to the other side, almost making Eric pull the trigger.

_"Out of time," _The shadow said coolly, its strange snake like accent adding to the chill of the words.

Eric didn't reply, mostly because he now felt like he was falling backwards, and as his gut clenched he lurched himself forward but only ended up hitting his forehead on something hard yet familiarly smooth. He groaned in time with a light scree of pain that could only have come from Xerah, he let his head fall to the pillow though as he recovered. His own head was a little sore from the encounter, but he had hit his forehead, and he had a feeling that he had gotten the better end of the stick. But he was awake again, at least he really hoped he was.

But he didn't let himself feel any relief that he was awake as he carefully got up onto his knees, apparently back on the bed, as he groped around in the dark until he touched her. "I'm so sorry, Xerah." He said, his throat almost catching as he still heard her whimpering. "I can't see, but are you okay? How bad did I get you?"

_She had her hand to her head as she protected from unknown sources the area that was sorest where her mates head had hit hers. She heard his words of concern._

_"I am fine, Eric." She said, touching his warm hand with hers as it grazed her, the simple act helping to ease the pain. She knew she had something to tell him though, something that she knew he wouldn't notice unless she told him; so she tried to ignore the pain in her face. She felt it what she had to tell Eric was not a good thing, but she knew that Eric would be able to know for sure. _

"Sorry for… passing out again." _He said to her, sounding sad._

_ "Are you okay?" She asked him more worried about the effect of what had happened rather than the act of it. "How are your eyes?" _

"I feel fine." He said gulping in his throat, though he still ached as if he had actually had a fight with that shadow, but he tried hard to show no sign of discomfort; because even if he couldn't see, Xerah could. "I can't see anything in this dark…. It is dark right?"

_"Yes, it is dark." She said to him, holding his hand tight to comfort him as for a moment she imagined what it must be like to not see. _

_ "My Mate." She said, trying to think of the best way to tell him what she knew was an urgent matter. Thinking of the best way to say it, and resolving to just say how it is as simply as she could._

"Yes?" He said, hearing nervousness in her voice and, fear?

_"There…" She started but stuttered. She was scared to say it, what she had to tell him scared her… What if it was…?_

Without much struggle he accepted Xerah's sudden embrace, she wrapped her arms around him as the knelt together and let her head go over his shoulder. He half grunted half chuckled at the sudden embrace that he couldn't see; happy to be holding her close to him again. But he knew that she was upset by something, and she was trying to tell him what was scaring her; he could feel her shaking lightly in his embrace, and even though she appeared to be holding back she quietly whimper like a kitten. His heart hurt with her like this and in a serious tone he asked her, "What is it?"

_"There are people outside." She told him, trying not to make too much noise as they held each other close. She wrapped her tail around the both of them as she continued before he could say anything,_

_"Please… Please don't let them take me back, Eric!." _


	9. Click-Clack

***Sorry for taking so long to post. I just got both the Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLCs for Skyrim and... welp. Please forgive me.**

**~Gets on hands and knees and bows head to the ground~**

**Also, as suggested last time, this entire chapter is Xerah POV.**

**Please R&R**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed my story last chapter and of course, the chapters before that. To honor my beloved reviewers I have decided to pick two reviews that really stood out for me last chapter.**

**From, V1S0R 103: "man i hate reading good stories like this because, when you start reading you get interested and you want to know how it ends, but after it ends, you feel sad after such a great story ends knowing the end of the story and the magic is gone, i only wish there was a story that would never ever end"**

***Thank you, for your review and I will just say that the best stories do end, but as they do so do others begin. I think Jackie Chan said something like that in a movie. Can't remember what it was called though... =P**

**From, the green ace of clubs: "O no, just let the people outside be those religious people who go door to door."**

***Thanks for the review. I really truly laughed aloud for the first time in a while.**

**If you haven't skipped this entire authors intro note then thank you and thank you people who have reviewed,faved, followed. You, reviewers are seriously the one in 150 to 200 people who, after reading a chapter review it. And thank you to the people who fav and follow, I will not let you down. I vow to not stop updating until this story is over. I will continue to share the story that has entertained me through many a sleepless nights or uneventful days.**

**So many people post good stories and don't get any reviews or attention, but you good people are the few amongst the many. Thank you for 180 reviews, 129 favorites, and 121 follows. This entire fanfiction is dedicated to all of you and if somehow the numbers increase, so to then do the numbers of dedications.**

**Sorry about that, here you go.**

"Xerah, it's going to be fine -I'm not going to let them take you back_." She heard him say to her, but she didn't take the words seriously as she remembered the horrors of the lab. Every day since her birth, she woke up with uncertainty and the unbearable fear of being exposed to regulated sessions of torture. She tried not to remember, trying and failing as she held her warm mate in her arms._

She remembered the cold hard bindings that the men at the lab used to hold down her every limb as the humans did things to her, sticking tubes in her or cutting at her tender skin, pulling her teeth and so many other horrible things. Mother's voice had been her only link to reality as she tried to tune out her surrounding world. Mother had been born in the lab just like her, but she knew a lot about many things. She had never told Xerah how she knew the things she did, but Xerah never asked why as she gladly listened to what Mother told her.

Mother had told Xerah about some of their kind's past, and how they had had their own home planet where their kind had prospered. Xerah hadn't easily been able to grasp the concept of 'planets', but Mother had explained that they were like very large and connected areas, separated by a vast emptiness. Mother said that when her ancestors were on their planet, the individuals of their kind used to be able to mate with one another and that with each generation they had grown smarter. Mother had said that it was only out of a need to survive that their kind had adapted to being in need of taking hosts.

The idea of a home world for her kind never ceased to fascinate Xerah as she imagined the possibilities of such a place - yet it only saddened Xerah when Mother told her that their kind had left their world, though Mother believed that their kind was not responsible; she believed it was creatures, not from their world, that had taken their kind's ancestors away from their home planet.

Xerah's thoughts strayed back to Eric as he gently tried to move out of their embrace, causing her to let go of him and move back to allow room between them. He did, though, reach for her hands, and she felt safer as he struggled to judge where her head was in the darkness in which his eyes could no longer pierce.

She carefully brought her face to his and even though he probably hadn't been expecting it, when she kissed him, he returned her kiss without hesitation. She began to pull her head back from the brief encounter, but his head followed, and so she kept hers close as he brought his head forward slowly until it touched her own bowed head; together they stayed like that, their imaginary horns stuck together, keeping their heads from separating.

She felt his soft hands caressing her own and her gut felt hollow as she imagined losing her mate, of being taken from him. Yet what if... What if they didn't just take her from him, what if they hurt him, or even kill…

"Let's leave, Eric." she said to him, not realizing her tone had been laced with worry.

"Leave? But we… Shouldn't we at least wait?_" he asked. She could tell of his uncertainty and it made her curious._

"Wait for what?" she asked him anxiously. She thought about the possibility of her and her Mate leaving without the people outside noticing.

Eric hadn't known about her imprisonment or about her kind at all. What that meant could be really bad. She imagined that perhaps only a small amount of humans knew about her kind. - Perhaps 'they' didn't want other humans to know about them. If they didn't want anyone to know, what would they do to her mate if he found out? If they are hunting her and her kind, what would they do if they found out a human knew about her.

"What if it isn't...'Them.' _"He asked her as he pulled his head back, breaking their foreheads' embrace. To his question she was uncertain. "Do you know how many are outside?" he continued. She concentrated hard to be completely sure. She could feel the beating of multiple hearts, all of them beating together making an almost symphonic thumping noise. But she found that she knew right away how many of them there were - her instincts alone knew the number of hearts behind the symphony._

"There are four humans outside, Mate." she said to him, certain in the number of hearts she could hear, yet she tried not to think about the possibility of hearts outside her perceptible range.

"Okay." he said, stalling for a moment as he tried to figure out how she knew. "They are in the front of the house, right? You saw them from one of the windows?_"_

She didn't answer right away as she wrestled with what "house" meant… Could it mean… ah! He must mean his hive. "House..?" she thought to herself, though without intention she had said it to him as well.

"The… um, the…"_ he started but she cut him off as she figured out what he had meant._

"Yes, they are in the front of your hive - I mean, house." she said to him, but too late as she realized with awkwardness that she had said it rather excitedly. She had simply been a little too happy and perhaps proud that she had figured out the new word so immediately. She didn't, though, feel like asking him what windows were. Her instincts were telling her to leave immediately, but she feared the wilderness outside.

He didn't say anything for a few moments as he appeared to be thinking, though she didn't have an idea as to what he was thinking about. His silence was finally broken as he brought his head back away, causing her to do the same. Looking directly at her, he began with "Okay," sounding fairly certain of something. "I don't think they know that you're here."

"But-" she began, being cut off by Eric. "It might not even be them, Xerah."_ he said to her, trying to be reassuring but only making her more fretful as he sparingly doled out what he thought._

"Who is it then?" she said, raising her voice a little in her fear. "Why would they just be waiting outside, Eric? I thought you said that humans can't see in the dark. I don't understand." she said to him, her voicing breaking at parts as her emotions seemingly tickled the part of her mind she used to speak.

"Xerah, if it was 'them' then I don't think they would be giving you any chance to escape. They would already be in here trying to either kill you or take you." he said to her grimly, trying to be the voice of reason, she realized. "It's probably just new colonists, Xerah." he continued. "It's never happened to me before but they might have just stopped to avoid driving through the wilderness-stricken highway at night. Maybe they are just looking for a place to stay for the night."

She was dumbstruck for a moment as she tried to grasp the possibility of the stranger's appearance not leading to something bad. Yet in an effort to keep the conversation going, she asked him of the word that played on her mind.

_"What is a colonist?"_

_"It's a person who has come to a new world and is looking to live on it." he said to her informatively, although she still didn't quite grasp the concept. Releasing her hands he began to move around on the bed, his hands pushing into its soft fabric as he maneuvered himself._

_ "They will probably just leave. Can you tell what they are doing?" he continued as he neared the edge of the bed, apparently trying to get off and to her horror he ended up falling before she could catch him. He made a quick "Ah!" before landing head first on the soft floor below, making a loud thud as he did. She had jumped to her feet before he could even groan at the pain, walking across the bed she got to the ground next to her mate in a partially leaping step._

"Eric!" She called to him as she crouched down to her mate. He groaned in pain but nonetheless answered her plea of uncertainty with reassurance.

"I'm okay_." he said as he started getting to his feet. She helped him up, offering her hand which he gladly took and let him use as leverage._

Now standing next to her, he took back his hands and applied pressure to the side of his head. "Are you sure you're okay, Mate?" she asked him 

"Yeah, I'm alright. It doesn't even hurt anymore._" He said, a light smile on his lips as he reassured her._

"Eric, this isn't your species home planet?" asked Xerah.

"No, Earth is my species home planet; and it is a long way from here_."_

Xerah wasn't sure what to say, but in an attempt to keep the conversation going she asked. "Do you miss your home world?"

"Never been there."_ he said, _"I was born on a colony planet like the one we're on right now, but a lot more populated and with no forests."__

"Oh." was all she said.  
  
"Yeah, the planet was called Athens 117, a real metropolis crowded with buildings and streets packed shoulder to shoulder. This planet, though, is the second attempt by our species to make a livable biosphere using genetically altered plants and animals. It wasn't a successful colony though and now it's mostly just a rock for mining with a small settlement of people looking to get away from it all. It takes quite a while to get here, even with FTL making it…_" He halted his confusing talk, as he must have realized that she didn't properly understand what he was saying._

"Sorry_," He said apologetically. "_I guess most of that didn't make much sense."__

"It's okay." she said, as she officially gave up trying to understand. There were more pressing matters that needed attention anyway. "Eric, what are we going to do about the people outside?"

"We might not have to do anything_," he said , though she was still uncertain as she looked into his strange eyes - the pupils - and even worse, as she looked pitifully at her mate, she saw the blood that was all over his face from his fit on the kitchen floor and even more blood from after he turned the lights on - that time blood had come from his eyes._

He noticed that she was staring at his face and realized now as he started to feel around his face that it was covered in something - more than likely it was itchy on his skin. He touched it and as if in sudden realization of how itchy it actually was he started rubbing his finger on his upper lip, trying to clear it away.

"Is… is there something on my face?_" he asked, seeming a bit more than mildly concerned._

"Blood." she said to him. "From when you… In the kitchen, when you..." she tried saying, but the words brought back memories of the terror she had felt and she purred sadly as she took him into her arms again. Holding him against her and feeling the pounding of his heart against her chest, making her feel better as she let him go after a few moments.

"I'm just, uh, going to turn on the lights now_." he said, somewhat mumbling. He turned from her and before he did anything else she realized that he would very likely not make the journey to turn on the lights. She prepared to tell him but he took barely three steps before he tripped on something on the floor. Xerah was able catch him from behind; one hand on his hip and the other going around his waist, suspending him from falling._

The tension in her stomach faded away as she realized that she had caught him in time and that he would not fall, and perhaps lose consciousness, again. She carefully pulled him straight up as he sighed out in relief at being caught before he could land on his face again.

"Thank you_." he said to her as he stood up properly now, though her hands still remained wrapped around him from behind. He brought his hands to hers but did not try to release them and instead just covered them with his own. She was nervous to let him go, nervous that something might happen to her mate._

"Stay here, do not move. I will turn on the light for you, my Mate." she informed him kindly. She let go and moved around him, headed to the entrance way into the room. Seeing clearly in the darkness she stepped over the blanket and approached the strange piece of glass embedded in the wall.

_ She looked back and saw that her mate hadn't moved an inch. She focused back on the screen; it was devoid of light until she touched it, and then the glass suddenly gave off a very faint luminescence, revealing different symbols. She touched the one Eric had touched when he had turned on the lights earlier. As soon as she touched it light suddenly filled the room and as it did she heard Eric breath in sharply through his teeth. She acted fast, rushing up to him to make sure he didn't fall._

"Eric!?" she asked worriedly, aware that he might pass out again. He had his hands over his eyes just as he had before when he had passed out the last time the lights had been turned on. He let out his breath in a painful groan and she saw him lightly sway on his feet. It had only been a few seconds but she worried as he hadn't immediately answered her concern. He appeared to be in pain and as she turned to look at the flat piece of glass against the wall she realized that she should press the button again to turn the lights off as she had done before.

She turned to go press the light switch but was halted by his voice as he replied to her after what felt like minutes and yet had been barely a few seconds.

"I'm fine_." he said, taking his hands down from his eyes slowly. He squinted as his hands left his eyes and she saw that they were bleeding fresh blood again._

"No you are not, Eric!" she said suddenly angrily, though not at her mate. 

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore and it was way less intense than it was last time_." he said to her hastily, trying to cease her own worry and anger at his denial._

"No… no you're not okay, Eric, and you know it. Yet you don't admit it!" she said to him starting stern, yet her voice carried on into sadness.

"This morning your heart stopped, then after being passed out for the entire day you wake up in agony, then you turn on the lights and yell in pain before passing out again. Now you are in pain once more…" She said ending her short rant with a whimper, her voice breaking up in wake of the emotions she felt, fear for her mate being the leading emotion.

"I don't_-" He started, but she cut him off as she realized right away what he was going to say and was angry at him for it._

"Don't!" she said angrily. "Don't say you don't know why this is happening. I knew right away when you told me about your remembrance about falling to the floor in the kitchen. You are not telling me what happened… what happened in your head."

"Xerah, I…"

"Were you ever going to tell me? Tell me about that something you call 'Shadow'? Is this 'Shadow' what is doing this to you?" she asked him, her anger peaking as she revealed her knowledge to him - her lashing tail behind her evidence to her annoyance at her mate's withholding. "You were talking in your sleep after you turned the light on and passed out. You said 'Shadow' a lot as well as muttering something about 'not again.' You were muttering those things over and over again, Eric. But, the worst of it, what I didn't expect to hear from your ramblings was 'wont' …" She struggled with the words. " 'Won't kill me again.' Eric what happened? Your skin turned pink and your whole body got so hot..."

"I don't know what it is, but…"

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and looked away for a moment. He looked back to her and before he could say anything, she said something first.

"Go wash the blood off your face." she ordered him, going over to the bed and sitting down on it, her arms crossed as she saw him nod his head and walk towards the entrance. As he walked past her, sitting on the bed, she reached out and tenderly took his arm, halting him in his tracks. "Please," she said. "I have been trying to ignore it, but I can't stand the look of your blood… It means… It means that you're hurting." she told him sadly, her tone quiet as she calmed down.

"It's pretty itchy. I'm glad I have a chance to wash it off before… well, before I tell you about 'it'_." he said, to her kindly, smiling as he did and in so making some of the dry blood crack on his face. She felt better knowing that her mate wasn't angry at her, at least not noticeably, from her small outburst and sudden sternness._

Taking back his arm, he looked at it with interest and she saw that the arm she had grabbed had been the arm that was burnt. The burn had come from her blood, and though he had never told her, she still knew that it had to have come from her blood because when she first woke up to find him next to her; there had been a fresh bandage on his arm.

"My blood is prettier than yours though, don't you think?_" he strangely suggested._

"I suppose…" she said awkwardly, not understanding what he meant by the question and yet partially hoping it wasn't some sort of jab at her, though she knew he would never insult her.

"Though, it's not nearly as interesting as yours._" he said in a half mutter. He seemed unattached to the world for a moment before, after shaking his head little bit, he continued on to the door and left the room. She was estranged by his act; what had he meant by her blood being more interesting? She could only imagine him meaning that her blood burnt all that it touched. All except her kind, anyway._

She could hear him in the bathing room, the water running and splashing as he cleaned his face in the sink. She was still in the room and presently (presently is not a good word to use here, I think) alone again, left only to her thoughts as she prepared herself for the conversation they were going to have about that 'Shadow.'

Eric walked back into the room, his face clean once more and still a little wet. The forward section of his hair lay quietly on top of his forehead. He didn't come over to her and instead stayed by the entrance way, touching the small square of glass surface on the wall.

"What are you doing?" She asked him curiously,

"Getting a look of my own at our 'new neighbors'."_ he said to her, looking back at the screen. She realized then to her own horror that she had actually forgotten to keep track of the people outside. She had been so ready to talk about what weighed in her mind concerning her mate's sleep-ranting that she had forgotten about the immediate threat. She realized that Eric really had been the voice of reason and had calmed her down from her worry about the strangers. She was glad of that, but as she focused once more on locating the beating hearts of the people outside, she realized that her fear might have been well placed._

"Eric!" She said, getting up from the bed in an instant. He immediately turned his head from the screen and though he tried to mask it she could tell he was afraid of what he had seen. She couldn't imagine how the piece of glass worked but he could clearly see outside with it. His face said to her that he had not seen what he had expected, nor wanted to see.

"One of the strangers is alone, on the opposite side of the house." she said to him fearfully. "I can't tell what he is doing, but-" She stopped talking as suddenly there was a loud hum and then the lights flickered off. Eric didn't wait a second longer and began to move over to his dresser. He couldn't see and she could tell as he took very cautious yet quick steps.

She knew what was happening - it really had been them. They were going to take her back to the lab! She whimpered and looked to the window which had been covered up by a thin sheet that kept light from outside getting in and light from inside getting out. She didn't know what Eric was doing but she hoped he hurried as she went over to the window. She turned to Eric who was throwing his clothes out of the drawer and over his head.

"Eric, what are you doing? Let's go this way through the window." she said to him, anxious to escape. "The person from the back has gone around to the others in the front."

He pulled out a metal box and placed it on the top of his dresser - the lights came back on with a quiet hum. This time though they were smaller and less bright near the top of the walls. She almost yelled at him for foolishly wasting their time to take a metal box until logic clicked in and she realized that there must be something inside of it. She found out right away what that 'something' was, recognizing it from her escape at the lab. He touched the top of the box a few times, causing it to slide open; he reached in and pulled out what she knew was a human's weapon. It was black and small, yet looked heavy for its size. It had a handle, which he held, and above the handle there was a longer horizontal piece of metal. The entire weapon pointed the opposite direction of the person holding it.

He turned to look at her and tried to not show the uncertainty he was feeling. As long as he lived, Xerah would be safe. He could take care of the people outside, but he knew that she was going to disaprove of what he was about to do.

"Xerah," he started as he gulped in his throat, expecting for her to disagree to his plan. "You need to stay here, in the house. I will go outside and… talk to them." he nervously said.

"_Talk to them!"_ she yelled into his head, taking steps over to him. _"You can't just talk to them! If they are here then they are here to take me away… Maybe, maybe you can escape, leave out the back and I'll-"_

"Don't you dare!" he said to her sternly as she stood now in front of him, waving the weapon in his hand. "Don't even consider that as a possibility, I will never let anyone hurt you. You, Xerah, are the only thing I have ever had worth living for." he told her. "Now sit down on the bed and twiddle your thumbs for a bit; this might take a while." He reached back into the box with his other hand and grabbed one of the magazines inside.

"_But… I..._" she crooned very quietly in sadness.

"It's okay, you will be safe here. " he told her reassuringly. "The men from the labs don't know that you are here."

"_But, the people outside… You saw them, you grabbed your weapon. It has to be them.._."

"No, it's not them. "He explained, cutting her off mid-sentence. He promptly shoved the magazine into the bottom of the gun - hearing a click, - and then cocked back the slide-rail with his hand. The gun was now ready to fire.

"The men outside aren't here for you, Xerah." he explained. "They are here for me."


	10. You Can't Run From The Past

***Sorry for the long wait ._. School has kept me busy with exams and such.**

**But anyway, holy *bleep* 201 reviews?! Oh mer gherd! 200th reviewer, AKA "The follower"/"Mrdevinh" I owe you a box of cookies. In fact, I think I owe all of my reviewers a box of cookies. Everyone, name your favorite kind of cookies!... I'll get back to you on when they will be delivered though. **

**Oh yeah, if you haven't noticed. The last chapter was cleaned up really nicely by a cool guy (or girl... *Shrug* ) named Neonwarrior1.**

**Oh yeah, I have a pole that you can access on my profile. The pole is if Predators should be introduced into this story at some point and whether they should have a large or small part or no part at all. I'm pretty sure you need a Fanfiction account to vote, (not my call). So if you don't have one, you should definitely make one. Then you can vote and keep better track of my updates.**

**Welp... It's a blind pole but I will let you know how it turns out in the authors note of next chapter. Every vote matters!**

** Okay so without further adieu, enjoy. Or don't. Let me know either way. I hope you guys and... gals? (fingers crossed) do enjoy though.**

_"They're here for you_?" He heard in his head as he attempted to step past his black love, his efforts thwarted as she blocked his movement with her arm

"Xerah, there isn't time." he told her, his voice containing traces of sternness and sadness, a vague reflection of his own inner feelings. He was beyond worried; the people outside were not the kind of people that could be avoided - at least, not anymore they couldn't. He felt his body become tense, like a small amount of adrenaline was pulsing through him. He knew he had to face the people outside, and he felt an itchy anticipation running up and down his body.

_"Why are they –"_

"I don't have all day to explain this to you." he said a little harshly. He put his hand on her arm in an attempt to lower and move past it. Her arm was surprisingly strong for its slenderness.

_"Okay,"_ she replied with a little submissively, lowering her arm to allow him past her. He realized that he should have known that she wouldn't take an I.O.U. for an explanation. As he walked past her, he felt her tail swish into action, wrapping itself around him, annoying him slightly at her persistence.

_"Tell me quickly then."_ she demanded.

She didn't need to say anything more to him now, with his arms pressed to his sides by her ensnaring tail. It was a hard and bony thing, not at all comfortable to have so tightly squeezed around you. He knew that she would not let him go until he explained himself.

"I stole something, from someone," he quickly spat out with a strained voice. "What I stole and who I stole it from wouldn't mean anything to you, Xerah, but the people outside are without a doubt here to get that something back and-"

_"And hurt you."_ she finished for him, her voice hollow-tinged with uncertainty.

"They might, but I still have most of what I stole and they don't know where it is. They'll want it back."

Eric looked down at his feet for just a moment, yet in that was filled with thoughts. He thought about what he had to lose now. When he had stolen from them, he had thought nothing of the consequences. He had had no connections, and no family besides his uncle whom he didn't have any real contact with. Though this was by Eric's own choice, he didn't want to put the only family he had left in danger. But now he had Xerah, and to him, she meant more than the world - he couldn't lose her.

_"If they are going to hurt you, then why are you going to them?"_ she asked him

He groaned as he answered her question. "So I can try to give back what I stole so that maybe they will leave us alone."

_"Eric…"_ she began_."I hear a strange noise from the front of your home, like a buzzing."_

He started squirming in her tail's embrace. "Xerah, you have to let me go now." She hesitated. "Xerah, please. They're trying to get in!" He felt her tail quickly loosen and slide off. He turned to her and saw that she was holding herself with her arms, her head bowed. He felt his heart choke at the sight of her like that. He had to hurry, but he had to make sure she understood what was at stake. With quick steps he approached her and wrapped his arms around her. She seemed limp in his embrace for a moment before slowly bringing her arms around him in response.

_ As she now held him her tail kicked to life again and wrapped the two of them together, this time not as tight. This gesture that had multiple meanings to her kind; both of love, or the willingness to protect. In this case it was both._

_"Why?" she thought. "Why does this have to happen?" She was so happy here with her mate, she didn't want to be anywhere else but with him. And yet, forces out of her control kept trying to take him away from her. First that 'shadow' and then those others of Eric's kind. Ever since her birth it had felt like the whole world had it out for her. But with Eric she had felt safe, as if his very presence could keep the horrors of the world at bay._

_Eric was in some sort of trouble and yet she couldn't figure out a way to help him. She knew that Eric knew what was best for the both of them, and unless perhaps Eric would ask her to kill the humans... She caught herself for a moment as she realized that she was referring to the people outside as humans, yet not Eric. Eric was a human, but he was the only human she had ever come in contact with that did not make her fearful, sad, or had inflicted pain upon her. He was special as far as she was concerned with the human race._

_She tried not to show Eric just how scared and sad and helpless she felt on the inside. But as she tried to hold back her whimpering she still shook with her fear in his arms. Being in his arms made her feel safer than anywhere else and she wanted to spill all her emotions out as he held her. But despite her feelings, she wanted to look strong so that Eric could focus on whatever it was he was going to do._

As he held her, in his gut he felt a little disgusted at himself. He almost let himself forget that he still had a gun in his hand. Wrapping his arms around the person he valued now above everything, while he also held a weapon, felt wrong. It's weight, the coolness of it, and the way it fit in his hand were all unwelcomingly familiar to him. Yet the memories it brought back were all the more unwelcome, forcing him to focus on Xerah in order to suppress them.

"They are going to make me go with them, Xerah."

_"What!" She said, unwrapping her tail fast as a whip and loosening their embrace with a small step back. Now looking her mate face to face her mate continued._

"But I will come back, okay, Xerah? I will come back to you, I promise." His hands had slid from her back as she had stepped back. Now resting on her hips he began to take them back, but she caught them with her own hands. He looked to her and tried to smile reassuringly, before letting his face become stern. "I have to do this. It's my mess to fix." he told, serious as a heart attack.

_She didn't want to, she couldn't let him go. He was going to be taken away from her, maybe even forever. But, she trusted him when he said that he would come back. She had to trust him._

_"If you take too long, I'm going to come find you. You..." She choked on the last words and lowered her head in the overpowering wave of emotions she felt._

_"You'll be in a lot of trouble…" She managed._

_With her face within reach of her mates she made move to put their lips together and as she did he read her intentions and kissed her. Their lips embraced each other for only half a moment before he pulled back._

"I won't keep a lady waiting." he said to her, a funny tone to his voice, almost as if he were reciting the words.

He smiled, though he made it only visible to her for a moment before he turned. Rushing over to the pad next to the doorway and pushing the touchscreen buttons that appeared on the cool flat glass. The back-up power hadn't turned on the cameras, so he turned to Xerah.

"I'll ask you how you do it later, but can you find out their locations one more time?" he asked her.

_"They… they are all at the front of your home,"_ she said glumly. _"The buzzing noise I heard before has stopped."_

"Okay." he replied to her, touching multiple buttons on the pad that consequently turned off the emergency lights on the walls. He then touched another button, opening the windows and blinds with an almost inaudible hum. As they opened, the dim lights emanating from the emergency lights surrounding his home spilled into the room. The warm air leaked out the window and was replaced with a chilling breeze.

The window was about abdomen high and with his gun firmly in his grip, he leaned his head out. Past the perimeter of his yard, the world appeared pitch black. The entire exterior of his house was spotted by dimly lit lights, marking the area of his yard about every three feet. This planet was very cold at night, as its thin atmosphere had a slightly difficult time keeping in heat - a sharp contrast to the choking, dreadful atmosphere of Earth before it had been terraformed. Imagine that, a species having to terraform their own planet, their mother planet, because they abused it so much.

Turning his head to look left and then right he saw to a small relief that Xerah had been correct. A very cool breeze swept in past his head; It was almost stingingly cold this time of year, and it was a wonder that it hadn't snowed yet. The wind brought with it a voice, breaking the silence.

"Come on, Luc. Get the damn thing open." said a voice, sounding high-pitched and whiny.

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a break." he heard from another voice, this one deep and gruff. Eric pulled his head back inside, deciding then that he should put some more suitable clothes on - it was really damn cold outside.

Turning around, he went over to his dresser, passing Xerah as he did.

_"Change your mind?"_ she said in a strange way, almost hopeful.

"Just going to get into something a little warmer." he replied to her in a rush as he quickly looked through his dresser and pulled out a pair of specialty clothing. As he undressed a chill ran down his spine. The room had become very cold with the window wide open.

"I shouldn't be long, but if you get hungry, remember how I-"

_"I'll be fine."_

"Right," he said with a nod of his head as he stood and looked at her. "I know you will be."

He pulled on his pair of black heat-regulating pants and the long sleeved shirt that matched it. The clothes were not truly black but were instead almost a camo-style of differing shades of black. As the clothes now hugged his skin tightly he began to feel warm once more.

He rushed past Xerah now as he headed over to the window sill and, after checking once more, he pulled himself onto the ledge. He looked at Xerah.

"Once I hop off this ledge," he said to her quietly, "you need to push that red spot on the touch pad. If you need to leave the house, for whatever reason, swipe your fingers over the spot, like this." He proceeded to trace an X in the air with his pointer finger. He nodded his head as he watched her copy his motion.

_"Eric, I will still be able to talk to you once you are outside, but I will try not to interfere."_

He smiled at her and puckering his lips he made a light kissing noise as he sent her a long distance kiss.

"I love you." He said quietly as he slipped out the window, landing onto the hard ground outside on the balls of his feet, making very little noise. He was now standing outside the left side of the house.

_"I am touching the red spot now."_ The window he had just jumped out of suddenly slammed closed and he saw the metal plates slam over the glass. It closed with a loud clank of metal on metal as it shut and locked. _"I love you, Eric."_ She whispered into his mind. He could hear the other windows around the house doing the same and the front door as well.

After the noise subsided, Eric could hear two voices cussing and speaking angrily. He stealthily made his way around to the front of his house. Following the wall of his home, staying just out of the light as he made his way. Soon enough he could clearly hear what the irritated voices were saying.

"I thought you said you could get in!"

"I can, you hyped up little... This damned guy, of course, had to buy one of the best colonial houses money can buy."

"So?"

"So, this house comes with a lockdown system and the bastard just activated it."

Eric approached the end of the wall and peeked around the corner, getting a good look at the situation. He saw two men at his doorway, one kneeled over and fiddling wires in an open pad next to the door. The man trying to hack open the door was a man of large stature. They were showered in light and, from where he was standing, Eric could see the man's thick arms and heavy-set build, complete with a beard. He had a short tuff of mostly grey hair, but with trace amounts of light brown. The man was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that exposed his dark skin and muscular arms. A tough man, Eric had no doubt, though his intellectual capacity was still a mystery.

The remaining person was standing a few feet away and was drastically smaller and paler, and sounded very young when he spoke. He appeared to be wearing multiple layers of clothes and was holding himself tightly with his arms and had a tuque on his head. He was clearly shivering.

The young man broke the silence, saying, "Can you still open it? I don't want to keep these guys waiting." He impatiently paced about.

Eric immediately scanned the perimeter, noting the inside lights of a bulky, black vehicle sitting a fair distance away. He thought he could see figures moving inside the vehicle. He wasn't able to tell much, though he could see that it was some sort of bus - Eric recognized it, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the vehicle. He remembered it to be one of the many of its kind down at the mine; the busses were primarily used to transport miners to and from the mine.

The burly man spoke up. "I know you're just bitching because it's chilly out. Trust me, I can get this door open - I don't want to keep these guys waiting long either. They're serious about getting this Eric guy."

From what he was seeing and hearing, Eric was beginning to get a good picture of what was happening, yet even so, in his gut he still felt nervous and apprehensive about what could be coming next. The men at his door didn't seem to be carrying weapons, but what they had said led him to believe that the men he couldn't see inside the bus might, meaning that Eric would have to play this carefully.

_"Please… please don't let them hurt you, Eric."_ He could hear the sorrow in Xerah's voice and he wished he could respond. Stuffing the gun in his hand into the back of his pants, he took several deep breaths of the cool air and stepped out from around the corner.

He walked towards the men. The smaller one immediately noticed him and with an overly loud voice he alerted the man next to him, who looked up over his shoulder at Eric. As the large man brought his hands away from his work, a few stray wires poked out of the hole. They both stood and faced Eric, apparently unsure of what to do next. These were not the people hunting him; they were just here to open the door.

"Good morning." Eric said casually. They didn't reply.

"Can I help you?" Suddenly, the burly man stuck two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly. It was then that he heard the door to the parked vehicle open, the 'The door is ajar!' alarm ringing loudly, and two men stepped out. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but the two men seemed to be quickly stomping their way towards his house. It was soon that their bodies were illuminated in the light of the house.

One was wearing tight fitting clothes of dark colors, similar to Eric's own, and had black hair that appeared to be tied back behind his head, a few locks of the long hair hanging out of place in his face. He also appeared to be of Asian descent. The closer he got the more evidently taller he was compared to the man next to him. The other man was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a black jacket, a retro look that was popular among the denizens of big cities. He was Caucasian and had long dirty blonde hair that hung flat halfway down his cheek in length, split in the middle. Eric, sadly, knew this man well.

As the two men from the vehicle stopped walking and stood invasively close in front of Eric, the two men at his door silently left, heading to the vehicle. Eric turned his attention to the blonde haired man and confirmed that indeed it was his old friend, Kenneth.

"Hi, Eric." Kenneth began, his face stern. Kenneth's voice was void of concern or anger. If Eric hadn't known that his old friend was there at Eric's expense, he would have thought that Kenneth was going to invite him for a game of pool. He jerked his head slightly to brush a few strands of hair out of his face as a light breeze blew past.

"Ken." Eric replied, glancing at the tall dark-haired man before setting his eyes back on his old friend.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks, you look pretty good as well." Eric smiled politely at his friend and nodded at his black jacket. "That's a pricey jacket, eh? Doing well for yourself I see."

"Yeah." There was an awkward silence. "But you know that I didn't travel all the way out here to exchange pleasantries." Eric nodded his head.

"Alright, good, than you know what you have coming."

Before Eric could reply in any way he was suddenly struck in the face, his head jerking violently to the right. His head rattled with the force of the blow and he stumbled back, almost losing his balance. He placed his hand over his cheek, trying hard to fight through the pain - damn, he hit hard. He tasted the blood, breathing in through his nose, which luckily wasn't broken. He brought his head back up and looked at his striker, the tall one, who had backed off for the moment. The Asian man had stepped a few feet back and was holding his right hand in pain, and after Eric heard a pop he realized his attacker had dislocated a knuckle with that punch.

"You alright, Tai?" Ken asked the dark-skinned man.

"Yeah; your friend here just has a really hard face." It was hard to tell exactly but Tai had an exotic sounding accent in his voice.

"Alright. Listen Eric, my muscle here is going to do be doing the dirtier part of this job. "

Turning his head to the ground to spit out a wad of blood, Eric asked "How dirty is this part going to be?"

"He isn't going to kill you. Boss still wants to talk to you, but he said he also wants your face busted up when he sees you." Ken smiled at Eric and shrugged his shoulders. "You know how it works. You and I have done stuff like this more than once or twice."

Eric stared at Ken. "Yeah, I seem to recall that even then you hated doing the dirty parts yourself."

"Well, that was a long time ago, Eric. Hah! You don't think I can afford to look this good by still doing the petty shit we used to do, right?"

"I suppose not… So how many people have you killed with that gun in your jacket?"

Ken looked a little dumbfounded. He thought he had hidden his gun. He touched his jacket under his left arm, where a pistol rested in a pocket. He quickly brought his face to a sadistic smile and said, "Last time I checked it was a nice multiple of ten."

"But enough about me. Tai, you sorted out that big o'l hand of yours?" The tall man stepped forward. He was opening and clenching his hand and to Eric it looked ready for business once more. Eric wasn't going to be captured without a fight, and he raised his fists in preparation.

"You can fight back, Eric." Ken stepped back away from the two of them. "But I wouldn't if I were you. This guy is the real deal, the kind of guy we used to duck when we were working together. Doesn't matter if you got some combat training in the army; he'll beat you bloody."

Nothing more was said as Tai came up to Eric and swung once more, using his injured right hand. Eric was ready though and sprung his left arm up in a block motion, though to no avail as the ready of his attacker had made a convincing feign. Faster than Eric could even comprehend his mistake he was hit in the side of the head with a very hard right boot. The leveeing of the dark skinned fighter, at first thought for a haymaker punch, had instead been to send a roundhouse kick.

He was completely knocked off his feet, seeing stars and tasting the metallic flavor of blood as his head rang from the impact. He was on his hands and knees and spat once more, this time in greater quantity. His brain felt as if it were reverberating from the sheer force of the kick and he desperately felt like closing his eyes and passing out. He panted heavy as he climbed back to his feet and saw that his attacker expected Eric to now try and attack him. Before he did anything though he noticed the loss of his gun from where he had tucked in at the back of his pants. He didn't risk looking around for it in the darkness, and he hoped they hadn't seen it either.

_"ACK!"_ Suddenly Eric heard a yelling in his mind. It sounded like Xerah, and it sounded like she was in pain. He ground his teeth at a sudden thought that he might accidently share physical pain with her. She had shared her memories with him - who knows where the line was drawn when it came to telepathy? He would have to avoid getting hurt. Perhaps if he tried to ignore the pain, it would lessen the effect on Xerah. Of course that would be easier said than done.

He looked at his attacker who stood a few meters away and was in a defensive fighting stance, waiting for him to dare try and attack him. Eric loosened his limbs for a moment and breathed in and out, before closing the distance fast and was soon within striking distance of the tall bastard. Eric anticipated the trick shots that this man was capable of delivering. He knew now that this guy wasn't just some street fighter - he had proper training, something that Eric lacked.

Eric began holding his own moderately better, bobbing and weaving at the correct moments. Tai was playing this fight smart, landing a few straights every now and then to wane Eric's stamina in the long run. The hits were not bone breakingly hard, but they were consistent and Eric wasn't getting a chance for any of his own.

"_Eric…Eric!...Stop, just surrend—gah!."_ She seemed worried about every hit he avoided as if she were dodging them alongside him.

He managed to get some distance between him and Tai, backing away quickly_. "Stop fighting you idiot!"_

"Shut up, Xerah! Please!" He almost felt bad about that but Tai came back at him, causing Eric to bring his arms up in readiness.

_"Wait.."_ He was a split second from engaging in hand to hand with Tai again when the voice returned. Eric quickly decided to ignore it as he readied a feign attack. He might have landed a blow, only that what the voice said next metaphorically threw him on his head. _"What makes you think that this is Xerah?"_

He completely messed his feign up and his arm was caught by his opponent whom quickly twisted it in a strange position. Eric sharply inhaled as he knew in a flash what awaited him now. Tai took his twisted arm and, In a flash, he lifted his other hand and powerfully pounded down on Eric's shoulder, which immediately dislocated. The pain stabbed like a red hot dagger which twisted and turned as his arm fell. Falling to his knees, he screamed in agony as he grabbed his upper arm, trying to cease its movement. The pain was near blinding, he couldn't concentrate on anything else, but he managed to hear their voices.

"Alright Tai, that should be good."

Eric gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He thought it was over now. He panted heavily as he tried to stand back up. He could feel the stinging in his face as the cold breeze brushed by the scene. Now his arm was dislocated and he thought then that it might have been better to just allow Tai to beat his face. But he had had to try, anything to try and keep Xerah safe. Yet his intentions had turned on him and he hoped with his every being that she hadn't felt any of it.

"No." Tai quickly approached Eric.

Eric's eyes opened just in time to see a large open hand come at him and disappear under his chin. He felt it begin squeezing his neck tightly. Then he felt it, a sledgehammer to the center of his face. Eric felt his nose break and some of his teeth rattle loosely. Then another blow and another. After 3 hits he felt the world start to get dark, and he closed his eyes as the hand released his neck. He heard a voice than, though it almost felt a distance away.

"No! Tai, we need him alive!"

He felt his knees start to cave in. His knees didn't hit the ground as he had expected, but suddenly stiffened up straight. He still had his eyes closed and he almost didn't want to open them. When he tried to move though, he found he couldn't. Was he just imagining this, had he already passed out from the pain and trauma? He suddenly felt to his horror his dislocated arm suddenly move. He felt the full intensity of pain coursing through his shoulder and all through his arm and body.

_"I hate feeling your pain."_

Suddenly, his arm lifted by itself. He felt the pain in his arm slowly build in intensity, centering itself on his shoulder. Finally it got to a point where it felt like his arm was about to be torn off. He felt his entire upper body shake in the wake of his shoulder's relocation. He yelled out in pain as he heard the loud pop and should have passed out in pain but instead he was forcefully kept awake.

He could feel his arm was extended in front of him, throbbing with pain. He wished he could pull it back to his body but he was not able to control his limbs. In a sudden instant, sending jolts of agony through his body, he felt a huge impact on his hand, but was surprised when he realized that he was holding something very tightly. It was then that his eyes suddenly shot open and he saw to his confusion that Tai was frozen in front of him. Tai appeared to be in middle of a heel kick but his midair leg was being held at the heel in Eric's hand. The kick, if it had hit his head, may very well have broken his neck.

Eric could barely comprehend what was going on as things started to speed up. Without his control his other hand sprung at Tai's leg, grabbing it above the ankle. He was trying to hop away on his other foot, but couldn't get free of Eric's grasp. Eric felt his hands squeeze and twist fast and hard and he felt the bone break in his hands. The feeling was sickening, but it was satisfying to finally hurt Tai for a change. As he broke the bone he pulled hard, throwing Tai onto the ground.

Eric took several steps back and saw Tai on the ground. Kenneth was rushing towards Tai, his face showing shock and confusion. The world quickly felt heavy and started going dark. The last thing he remembered was the satiating sound of Tai's shouts of pain.

…

His eyes shot open as he was startled awake by a sudden shake. His head felt heavy as he struggled to examine his surroundings. He was sitting in a seat in an almost cylindrical-like room with seats lining the sides, each separated by a couple feet. The sides were donned with large windows, but it was too dark to see outside. He could tell by feeling that he was in a moving vehicle.

He was not alone either. At the far front of the vehicle sat Ken and only a seat away from where Eric was sitting was another person, whom Eric realized was the young man with the tuque who had tried to invade his home. As he looked at the youth, the man just smiled politely and rather awkwardly at Eric before turning to look away at the floor.

Eric felt very groggy, and strangely numb. His head bobbed up and down as he struggled to keep consciousness. As his head bobbed down he saw that his arm was in a tight sling that was keeping his recently injured arm from moving.

"Take it easy, yeah? My uncle doped you up pretty good." He was trying to think of what he was going to ask the youth, but his mind was too foggy.

"We far enough yet?" Eric heard from his far left, from Ken. He turned his head to look at Ken but ended up doing so too fast. His head spun for a few moments as he tried to focus.

"Yeah, go ahead." Eric recognized this voice as the voice of the gruff man whom had been tampering with the wires. The voice had a slightly static to it between words and Eric hadn't seen the big man in the vehicle. The driver's seats must be separated from the passenger area.

"Alrighty then." Ken turned and looked over at Eric. Seeing that he was awake and staring back, he called to him. "Hey, Eric."

The bastard was actually smiling. Eric didn't respond but continued looking at the blonde man he had once called friend.

"Was there anyone with you in your house?"

Eric's first thought was then of Xerah whose image was sharp and clear in his foggy head. He thought of her, waiting for him in his house. He hated that he would have to leave her alone for any amount of time. But he would be back with her soon, and this will have been taken care of.

"No." Eric said plainly, hoping that he was believed and no one tried to get into his home again.

"Alright." Eric watched as Ken reached over into another seat and picked something up. The blonde man then leaned back in his seat and looked over to Eric for a moment before tuning his gaze to whatever he had in his hand. It was a black, long, and rectangular device. Ken then took the object by both ends and twisted it, the two halves twisting in opposite directions until there was a click and a beep. With a flick of his thumb Ken knocked open the top of the object, which opened up like an old zippo lighter. Now open, it exposed a small button.

"The Boss's second order, after beating the shit out of you," Ken explained, looking to Eric as he put his finger on the button, holding it down. "'Blow up his house.' "

The split second after the words came out of his mouth is when Eric saw it. He could see through the desert like terrain outside the vehicle, light up. The brightness was enough that it showered the inside of the vehicle in a bright orange light. The vehicle then shook violently as the shockwave hit them, coinciding with the sound of thunder as if lightning struck his house a hundred times at once.

"Boss loves his revenge."

In Eric's mind he could register that an explosion had occurred. But he was having a hard time combining what Ken had said to the sudden event. It was disbelief that tried to plague Eric now. His next feelings made him feel faint. He couldn't keep his head up anymore and his eye lids turned against him. His final thoughts were of Xerah sitting on his bed. Waiting for him.

**"Are you out of your mind, Teykon!?" **

**"Maybe a little."**

***What did you think of the fight seen? I worry about it. :L **

**VOTE ON THE POLE PLEASE**


	11. Dead or Alive

_**You guys thought I was dead? Didn't I like just say some chapters ago that I wouldn't stop until this story was over? Well anyway here you go. Forgive any spelling and or logical grammar errors. I haven't gone over this nearly enough for it to be safely posted but I am going on vacation and I decided to write this before I go. **_

_**So without further author notedge. **_

"Get him up!" Was the first thing he heard. The next was the sound of a seat unclipping, a dull metal 'tang'. He could feel cold metal kissing the side of his face and making his entire body sore as he laid flat down on it. He could hear footsteps for just a moment before he felt a hand on his shoulder. The hand grabbed at him roughly as it pulled him up to his knees. Having his chest flat for however long on the hard floor made him hack as it was now free to expand to full capacity. He noticed a small taste of metal in his mouth as he coughed.

The blood was rushing to his head as he tried to gain a foot hold on the reality of what was going on around him. He swayed and threatened to fall back to the floor but was a little grateful that a hand was keeping him up.

"What the fuck are you crying about, Eric? It's a goddamn house." He heard from ahead of him. It was strange for a moment to hear the voice but not see its source. It was a long few seconds before he realized that his eyes were closed. He opened them to see a metallic stretch of floor and as he lifted his head to see more he saw a familiar face. Eric's head was fuzzy but as he focused his vision on the face it seemed to help clear the fog from his mind. He remembered the fight and-

"Who is Xerah, Eric? Did you have someone in that house?" Ken asked him, spitting out another question that Eric couldn't quite grasp at.

Eric stared at the man for a moment before the suddenness of his memories hit him. Xerah… Oh god, he felt sick. He locked her in his house, told her to trust him. He could feel tears falling down his face, his entire being felt hollow. The over powering weight of hopeless despair fell on him.

"Oh… fuck." Ken said, and then he could hear him chuckle. That laugh, it was a laugh at everything Eric held dear being taken from him. A laugh at Xerah, at her perfect being torn from life. There was so much she had to live for, she had seen only a small portion of how beautiful life could be. And he was laughing at what HE had caused.

Eric still had his right arm in a tightly bound sling, but his other arm was free to move. He brought his hand up to wipe away the tears on his face.

As he got his elbow up he pounded it backwards. He hit the man behind him in the tenders and before he could hear a grunt he felt the hand come off his shoulder. He was on his feet in an instant as he jumped to them, his adrenaline giving his rage full access to his body's strength. In a twisting turn he grabbed the slightly keeled over man and brought him in front of himself.

He had the man in front of him like a human shield as Ken pulled out his gun and pointed it at them. Ken was no more than a meter and some away and Eric was ready to shove the man in his arms forward. This would give him enough distraction and interference so that Ken wouldn't dare shoot his gun or risk shooting the man he held. In that moment Eric would break Ken's hand and take the gun and shoot both of them.

At least that was the plan Eric put together in a quick instant as he held the man in front of him like a shield.

"Please…" He heard from the man he held and yet the voice was not quite a man's. It was young and it took only that for Eric to realize he was holding the youth that had been with the old man. He was not truly involved with what was happening.

Eric could see Ken's mouth twitch for a moment and then open to say something. But before it could the vehicle suddenly hit a hard stop. All three of them lurched forward and were thrown to the ground. Eric landed on top of the youth. The youth had tried to catch himself as he fell and his elbow hand gone into Eric's ribs. They were definitely broken, more so then they had been since the fight with Tai.

The three of them groaned as they all tried to move away from each other and get up. Eric was being blinded by both pain and the drugs that flooded through his system. Yet through it all Eric could still feel the warmth of his tears on his face. Tears not from the pain, he couldn't find himself thinking about anything else besides Xerah.

Even as he had planned to kill those men it had been a second thought as he remembered every moment with Xerah. From the moment he had found her in that little cave, a complete accident it seemed at first. It might have even been a mistake to have been so far away from civilization, but now it felt only like fate. He had come this to this planet, leaving everything to come to this piece of nowhere. Not for retirement/exile as he had first thought, but to be here to save her and keep her safe. And he had fucked that up royally.

Suddenly all the lights in the vehicle were very bright and he heard a loud clang as something unlocked. Ken was already getting back up when Eric felt his leg being grabbed from behind him. It was pulled and soon found himself being handled astoundingly roughly. For a moment he almost felt like a bear was the culprit of this as he heard deep and gruff grunting. The vehicle had bright exterior lights on its sides and via them Eric saw that his bear theory was close to reality. Eric soon stared at the face of an old, bearded, and incredibly strong man.

The man was holding him by the neck with one hand, pushing him against the side of the vehicle. Eric was very dizzy and ready to pass out again. He felt his entire body throbbing with pain and he half wondered if with each throb his entire body vibrated.

"You leave my, nephew out of this." Said the big man and as he did Eric saw out of the corner of his eye Tai. Tai walked up a short distance from the burly miner, a small limp to his each step. He stared with a burning gaze at Eric, but he didn't dare interfere.

The strength of this man's grip was not threatening to choke off his air right now. But the strength of the grip seemed to fluctuate almost with the man's every breath. Eric knew with that that this man could probably squeeze a hell of a lot harder. Eric even had the unpleasant thought of this man breaking his neck with a single strong squeeze.

"We are miners, boy, and we don't give two shits about you city dweller's conflicts. But if you put your hands to my nephew again it will be the last thing you do." The man said and with a little effort he heaved Eric closer to him and then threw him back against the vehicle. The man did this with ease and yet it nearly knocked the wind right out of Eric. But more than that it made his middle feel like it was being torn apart.

Whatever amount of adrenaline Eric had been using had reached empty. He was unable to stay on his feet in wake of the amount of pain that shot through him; like a lightning bold with every throb. Eric pinched his eyes shut and grimaced as he held his ribs.

He sat on the ground and daringly opened his eyes as he saw the big man walk away. He saw him go to the vehicles opening and help out someone. He was helping out the youth, whom had a small amount of blood running down the side of his head. They were talking to each other and to Ken inside, but Eric couldn't bring himself to pay them any mind.

The main colony was at the edge of a large forest, on the other side of which was the mine. In the other direction from town was nothing but lifeless wastes. It was not desert like anymore but life still had a hard time growing there. Yet trees were spreading about on this planet like weeds and it would only be a matter of time.

Eric lived a few hours' drive from the colony, in the empty wastes. The wastes though, weren't exactly empty in that it was full of cracks big enough to swallow a person. And the ground there didn't stay level.

"10 minutes, then we're carrying on to the mine." Said the burly miner as he began to treat his nephew's wounds.

Eric then heard something that no one else seemed to notice. It was a crack, like something stepping on a branch. They were close to the mines no doubt as Eric recognized a sign in the distance. That meant they were on the forest road that twisted and turned all the way to the mine. There was wildlife in this planets' forests, such as you would find in any forest. Deer, birds, rabbits, foxes, ect. These forests stretched for a very long ways and life had boomed inside in the last while. The wildlife life had adapted to the slight differences of this planet after it had been introduced by the terraformers.

Eric wondered now what might be stalking them in the bushes, maybe a cougar to finish him off. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off. He thought about how him and Xerah first met. He was being forced to take an auto piloted drive home after getting drunk on the job.

It had been so coincidental that he could almost laugh. He had forced the car to stop so he could stop and take a leak in the bushes. As he stood a little ways off the road he had heard a sound like a wounded animal. It was very faint but the wind rushed it to his ears as if it was a matter of urgency. It turned out it was as he followed the noise and saw what he did. He had expected to see an animal at the most but he had not expected to find a black form whimpering on the ground. How she had got there would probably always remain a mystery to him.

_"No, no NO!" She said to herself angrily. They were hurting her mate and badly. He had said they might hurt him and she thought that as long as he lived it would be okay. What had she been thinking!? She could hear them outside and what she heard most was her mate in pain. She could hear all that was happening outside including her mates yelling in agony. He must be badly hurt and now he was moving away, they were taking him with them. _

_This was not going as he had said. He had said that they would want what he had taken and that they only might hurt him. But from the sounds of thing at least one of the people out there wanted him dead. This was not going as he had said it would and yet, as she swiped her finger across the glass panel nothing happened. She copied her mates finger movements he had showed her, making an X across the panel. But the window nor door would open, all that happened was a voice which said: "Security lockdown will disarm in 5 minutes after system reset." _

_She couldn't hear anything outside but she could feel her mates mind moving away. It was a strange thing and she didn't understand it, but Eric's mind felt familiar to one of her kind. She paced back and forth across the bedroom, her tail lashing back and forth. She would go out there and stop all of this. She would kill those who were hurting her mate if she had too. If only that forsaken window would open!_

_"Please trace again if you wish to disarm security lockdown." She finally heard and as she did she rushed over to the pad and traced an X once more. The second she finished she heard metal clanking metal and as she turned she saw her way out. The metal plating over the window slid up and out of view. As it did, in one swift leap she was through the window. Landing on the hard ground she rushed on all fours to the front of the house. She saw nothing there but as she looked to her right she could see the lights of what was taking Eric away._

_ She turned to it and began running after the lights but she didn't make it far when she was suddenly hit with a powerful force. It was as if a blast of heat and raw force hit her and vibrated every bone in her body. It threw her off her feet and she was out before she could feel the ground meet her. _

"Alright, get up." Eric heard then as he sit on the ground. He looked up to see Ken standing over him. Eric turned his head and tried to pay no mind.

"After the explosion you passed out and while you were unconscious you were spewing stuff like. "I'm sorry, Xerah." Who is Xer-?" Ken said to him then.

"Don't-" Eric coughed roughly, his chest feeling afire with pain as he heaved heavily. His ribs were puncturing his lungs no doubt. Ken and Tai were probably not planning on Eric living after he spoke with their boss.

"Don't say her name." Eric finally said, wiping blood that had made its way onto his mouth.

"A woman?" He said, and he looked to his feet. "You thought you were protecting her by telling me no one else was ho-"

"SHUT UP! I'll KILL YOU, YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING HUMAN PIECE OF MEAT!" Eric, bellowed at him, though he didn't know where that choice of words came from. With every breath he felt as if he was being stabbed in the chest. Yeah, that was it. He felt unconsciousness beckoning to him and he was more than happy to oblige. Let them carry me.

Then he heard it, a scream, Tai was screaming; It was a scream of fear and or agony. And it was quickly evident that he was not the only thing making noise. He heard a loud screeching that mixed with the scream. The screech had a strange way to it, it wasn't human and Eric could not match it to any animal he had ever heard. Ken sprung up from his crouching position and looked around.

"Tai!?" Ken called out in the direction of the scream. And as he did there was suddenly a loud 'thunk' and then the scream cut out. Silence surrounded the vehicle like a haze and with it came panic.

"Tai!? What the fuck man!?" Ken yelled out, he sounded scared and his voice held to the starting of panic.

"Here!" Shouted the miner from the front of the vehicle. All of a sudden the vehicles exterior lights turned much brighter, illuminating their surroundings. Being surrounded on all sides by the forest while on this part of the road, all they saw was trees and bushes. The light from the vehicle making shadows everywhere.

"I think this is where we die, Eric. I just wish I didn't have to do so in such a pathetic body." He heard inside his head. The voice was that of Xerah and in the moment of hearing it and even a few seconds after he had a flitter of hope.

"No, it's not." The voice said. "I just want to let you know I blame you entirely and that I hate you with every speck of my being." The shadow said, very calmly. Metaphorically speaking, if the shadows emotions were boiling over right now, then Eric was feeling some of that steam. It was an overwhelming wave of anger, laced with sadness. Eric was very quickly losing consciousness though; he didn't have much time to process it all.

The sound of the shadows voice, of Xerah, even though it was not at all her usual tone was enough for him. He closed his eyes and slumped over as gently as he could. Letting unconsciousness take him, he hoped he didn't feel whatever was about to happen.

Eric wasn't a believer in the afterlife but right now he hoped that if it was real, that Xerah would be there to greet him.

_She was awoke slowly, her entire body feeling like lead. She was on her stomach, laying in the dirt and for a minute she couldn't figure out why. But as she recalled she resolutely forced herself to her hands and knees. She looked ahead and saw that the vehicle she had been chasing was nowhere in sight and was no doubt long gone by now. She was a little scared to look behind herself, what had happened? _

_She turned and saw to her horror that Eric's house was now in ruin. Some of the metal was scorched black and all of it was… well everywhere. She saw bits and pieces that brought back memories of her time within. As she got closer she saw what remained of her mates nest, the soft mound that they had first mated on. She was saddened at the loss of her mates home, and she knew he would be upset about it too. Together they would need to find a new one. That is, if he is stil-_

_"No! I can't think like that! He wouldn't die… He wouldn't dare." She told herself. And with her mind firmly focused on being with Eric once more, she turned to the direction they had taken her mate. She began running, on all fours as she followed the trail they had made. Her running was like that of a cheetah, more like a leap in which she quickly caught herself. Then repeat, over and over very fast. _

_She ran for hours and hours, even as it got brighter and consequently hotter, she continued running. She was getting quite sore at all this running but she couldn't let herself stop. She had to help her mate._

_"You'll be unable to help anyone if you run yourself to death." _

_She tripped as she ran, tumbling into a roll as she stopped herself. She shot herself up and looked in all directions, even though she was pretty sure how she had heard that voice. The voice was in her head, as if being spoken to by her own kind. It was almost a little strange to hear after so long of relying on only her sense of hearing as part of communication. _

_Yet she couldn't see any of her kind, nor could she sense their minds. _

_"That's because I am in _your _mind." _

_"What?" Xerah thought._

_"I am in here, with you." The voice said. It was feminine and very plain, like one of her kind. _

_"Who are you?" She asked inside her head. _

_"The answer to that is a bit longer than you would expect. It would be best to tell you everything you need to know about me for you to understand _who _I am." _

_"Okay." Xerah said, a little agitated but curious. _

_"See if you can find some shade and I'll be happy to explain." _

_Xerah saw the logic in that; it was quite hot to be standing around talking to herself under the sun. And she was about as tired as she was overheated. She stood up tall and began to scan around. She saw what looked like a small dark area against the ground. It was not far from where she was and she ran to it. As she approached the dark area it became apparent as a crevice that went a small ways into the ground. She crawled down into it, it was a little tight but manageable. _

_It was not deep but she stayed attached to the walls side. It was much cooler in here then it was outside and even a little moist farther down from rainfall. _

_"How is this?" Xerah thought._

_"Perfect, that's much better, little one." The voice replied. Xerah was a little estranged for a moment as it called her by that name. It was a name that the Queen called her children. Using your mind to communicate means not needing names. But sometimes the Queen would call Xerah as 'little one' because he was smaller than all her siblings. _

_"So, who or what are you? Why are you in my… In my head…?" _

_"Yes, in your head, though I am in every part of you as well. Are you ready to hear all of this?"_

_"Of course, but tell me first. Are you what is plaguing my mate?" _

_"Oh, by The First no. Who is doing that… well I suppose you could say that it's my sister who is 'plaguing' Eric. She is not very patient, though that's not her fault."_

_"Okay…" Xerah was getting a little confused now. "Why have I never heard you before if you are a part of me?" _

_"Well I'll explain that later. But why I haven't been talking to you like my sister has Eric, is really because there was no need too." _

_" Fine…Explain everything to me." _

_"Of course." Said the voice in a noticeably happy way. "Well what I am, is a collection of memories. I am the ancestral memories that all the Queens have access to. With each Queen I held their vital memories and passed them to the next Queen. In that way I am a part of all the Queens that have ever been. Since all of your kind can potentially become Queens if the circumstances require, I am in all of your sisters as well. Though only a Queen can access me and the memories."_

_Xerah didn't say anything, so the voice continued. "Though until this last generation, I was _only_ memories. I have obtained consciousness thanks to the humans. Their genetic material is a near perfect match up with ours and… well I don't know why, but I've slowly began gaining conscious thought since your mother was born from a human." _

_As the voice in her head finished, all Xerah could say was. "Oh." _

_"The same could all be said for my sister. Though she isn't really my sister, more like my other half."_

_Xerah had to sit on what the voice had said for a while. She took pride in being smart like her Mother, unlike her sisters. But this was-_

_"You are as smart as your Mother." The voice chimed in. "Don't you see? If I am what gives the Queens their intelligence and I am here with you…? " _

_"Oh…But, but why? Why are you here with me? Why aren't you with the new Queen?" _

_"New Queen? You mean her… she will never be a true Queen because I am with you and not her. Even if I was with her, she would use my knowledge and think she could outsmart the humans. She would be wrong. Things need to change if our species is going to survive. You will be part of that change." _

_No, not her, not Xerah the small and pathetic. She could not be a part of any change. She was nothing, she was a weakling, and she couldn't help her species to survive if she wanted to. Her kind was doomed, even if her sisters didn't see it. There was no way they could beat the humans. Even if it was possible to survive, why her? Why would she be chosen by… Who had picked her for this mission? _

_"Your Mother. Your Mother helped to awaken me in you and when she did she told me of her plan." _

_"What? What plan?" _

_"Your mother spent a lot of time listening to the humans, even before you were born. It's why I now the human language, why you know it. Anyway as she listened she realized a lot about what would be the future of our species. And as she listened she formed a plan. A plan so important that if it fails, it will mean the end of our species." _

_"Really?... What's the plan then?" Xerah said, a little skeptically. This all seemed too strange. All Xerah wanted or cared about right now was finding Eric. _

_"Well, it won't matter anyway if we don't find my sister… and your human mate." _

_"He is not my human mate. He is my mate. "_

_"Yes, well he IS human. And like most humans he will be prone to dying easily. So we should get a move on. We have to hope he isn't dead already." _

_At that Xerah looked up and out of the crevice she was in, it was still daylight outside. She was going to need to go over everything in her head, perhaps multiple times. She crawled out and back into the light and heat. It was all the hotter outside now that she had cooled off, but she was also rested now and ready to continue on. _

_She stretched her muscles as she prepared to head forward again. She could see the colony in the distance and she wondered if her mate was in there somewhere. _

_"I think you should know by now," She thought so that the voice could hear her clearly. "that my mate doesn't die easy." _

_"True." The voice replied, and to that Xerah began her journey once more. _

He felt himself being touched. The touch was cool and… slimy. A cool hand was rubbing something slimy on him ; gently massaging the stuff into his neck and over his face. As he felt it a wave of revulsion came onto him and he closed his mouth and scrunched his nose. He breathed in through his nose then smelt a horrible rank of death and a smell like urine and chlorine. It made him gag and he opened his eyes to see what the was going on.

In front of him he saw a familiar form, only it was twice what he was used to seeing. He saw what looked to be Xerah in front of him. And next to her was… another Xerah. Yet they were a little different looking then Xerah. It was subtle differences mostly, and he couldn't place it, but if he had to try and describe the difference he would have to say, they looked less humanoid. The major difference though was that they were taller and thicker built.

He looked down to his feet and saw his legs were bound to the wall by a strange black substance. He also saw that he was at least a foot off the ground. He was also missing his pants and hit shirt, completely exposed while on the wall. Bringing his gaze back up he stared down the creatures in front of him. They glared back at him without eyes.

"Where am I?" Eric asked the pair.

He only received a shrill hiss from one of them and he derived from it that now was not a time to talk.

It brought its hand into a makeshift bowl the other was holding. Eric saw a thick clear substance in the bowl. The hand came out of the bowl covered in the weird goo and then brought it's hand to Eric's bare middle. It rubbed the cool goop on his chest and stomach. The contact made him cringe as his broken ribs were moved with the rough rubbing. It rubbed the clear slop strongly on his ribs and Eric moaned out in pain.

When it finally finished Eric breathed out and in as carefully and quickly as he could in wake of the pain. But as the creature had stopped he noticed that the goo felt warm on his skin and even deeper than that. It made his flesh tingle as it rested on his bare skin.

The creature prepared it's hand with more goop and began rubbing Eric's shoulder, and at this Eric was almost welcome of the contact. His chest was not hurting him nearly as much already even though he could still feel the raw damage. The goop must be some kind of pain killer and he was more than okay with having his pain lessoned.

As the not Xerah finished rubbing the smelly slime into him it wiped its goopy hand on its thigh, clearing it of the substance. It then turned to the creature next to it.

"It is done. We can go now." The massager said to the bowl holder. The bowl holder then set down it's bowl and walked over to Eric.

_"Why does this human smell different?"_ The ex-bowl holder said, her voice like a very plain version of a young woman's.

_"I don't know, but what the Queen wants to know is why it smells like _her_." _Said the one who had massaged him, with a voice like a middle aged woman.

_"It is strange. By these smells, do you think he mated her? " _

_"It does smell like it. She smells fairly fresh on him too. Though like the Queen, I am more surprised that she survived after we left her like that." _

Eric stood silent, watching the two aliens in front of him. They were oblivious to him and he guessed that they thought he couldn't hear them. So he listened and watched as they stared him up and down. Eric took quick glances at the room he was in and so far it appeared to be underground. The walls were covered in a black substance similar to what bound him to the wall. The substance was placed in strange, almost intricate designs. It reminded him of the exoskeleton of Xerah and her kind. But Eric could make out spots that where not covered. He could see dirt and stone here and there and most prominently in the ceiling

Then one of them, the ex-bowl holder, came closer to him. He saw that it was at least a foot smaller than the one who had massaged the goo into his skin.

It came close to him and touched him tenderly with its finger. It ran the finger from his chest down to his man hood. It's finger stopped there and it began poking about at his soft member.

_"This smell, here, must be of her. He is marked as her mate." _

Xerah, they were talking about Xerah. She had said little about her siblings except that they hated her. Xerah had problems with self-confidence because of her siblings tormenting and to see them now and know that only made him angry. He clenched his fists as he held back berating them for being so cruel to his love.

As he did he saw the smaller one start touching its self as it stood in front of him. It was touching it's finger's to its nether region in fast motion as if it were masturbating. He looked at it, not with lust but with curiousness. Why the hell was it doing that in front of him?

Soon enough it stopped and brought it's hand up and from it Eric could see slick fluids on the fingers. It took it's hand then and reached it up to Eric's face. He wished he hadn't but he wasn't really expecting that and ended up catching a small whiff of the smells on the fingers. The fingers smelt of salty, sweaty musk and too much like piss. He scrunched his face as he turned away from the fingers, coughing as he tried to clean his nostrils of the smell.

"You are the worst, sister." The older sounding, massager alien said.

The other replied with a quick series of hisses, sounding like "Sss sss sss.". Eric quickly picked up on the strange form of laughter. What happened next was not at all funny, at least not to Eric anyway. He watch as she reached down and rubbed her fluids onto his member. At first a curious thing but Eric realized she was trying to cover Xerah's scents with her own.

Eric struggled in his binding as she gripped his member and rubbed her juices on him. The cool hand didn't arouse him, but what it was doing angered him. He knew what she was doing and he knew why. As a fuck you to his beloved.

"Cut it out!" He yelled at creature as it fondled him. He waited a second but the thing seemed to pay him no mind at all.

_"It's warm and squishy." _He heard it say and it turned to look at its friend. The other alien then walked over and started poking at him too. He still remained flaccid even as they both fondled at him. He simply couldn't be aroused by such creatures, not unless they were Xerah.

"STOP IT!" He shouted at them and he started squirming around as much as he could. The larger of the two hissed at him but he continued anyway.

Eric then took the incentive and started yelling at the top of his lungs as he squirmed for his life. The creature screed loudly at him as he did but he just continued. He started yelling profanities like it was going out of style. He didn't stop even when he felt a cold hand on his face threatening to crush his skull. Nor did he stop when he felt his ribs start sting in pain at the shouting.

What finally stopped him was a sudden whipping noise that ended with a loud cracking thud. He heard it first and felt it after, but only for a moment before his head slumped over. His entire skull felt like it was vibrating and numb as he closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of his scrotum continuing to be fondled.

"Just kill me." He muttered as he fell out of consciousness.

**_Let me know what you think about this chapter! _**

**_P.S. _**

**_Poll for predators in this story is still open for voting. Not enough votes so far. EVERY VOTE COUNTS!_**


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